David Li | Lariat Photographer
By Kasey McMillian
Reporter
Senior Diana Nakic is finishing up her final season as one of Baylor’s top women’s tennis players.
“It is exciting but on the other side it’s also sad because I am kind of leaving the team but it’s a new start,” Nakic said. “It’s a new beginning and I am looking forward to it. I will be staying one more semester here and I will still be around the girls. I guess I still don’t feel that excitement or sadness because I know I will still be staying one more semester because I am going to finish my school.”
Nakic is majoring in international business.
“A lot of things I can translate to real life experiences because we are a team here and we need to work together and that is the most important,” she said. “Also playing at Baylor has taught me how to manage my time like many other things.”
Nakic is originally from Velenje, Slovenia, and is a 10-time Slovian champion who competed internationally and was ranked as No. 103 in the International Tennis Federation.
Nakic then came to the United States in 2008 to attend Georgia State, where she was named Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year and CAA Player of the Year during her freshman year.
She was the second ever in CAA history and the first of GSU’s women’s tennis players to have received both those honors in the same season.
In 2009-2010 during her sophomore year at GSU Nakic was named CAA Co-Player of the Year making history for Georgia State’s first women’s tennis player to win the award two consecutive years.
“I went to Georgia for my first three years and I wasn’t satisfied there very much and then I started looking at teams that had a really good team atmosphere,” Nakic said about her decision to attend Baylor. “That’s what made me want to come here.”
After her time in Georgia, Nakic transferred to Baylor in 2010 for her junior year.
Nakic earned the Big 12 Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award and had an overall record of 30-7 in singles, and 24-10 record in doubles marking her at No. 3. Nakic also earned all-Big 12 honors in singles with an undefeated 11-0 conference record.
During Nakic’s last year to play for Baylor, she has led the team to the ITA Texas Regional title and is Baylor’s highest-ranked singles player at No. 12. Nakic has had a total of 31 victories on the season and 8-1 in Big 12 singles, 6-3 in doubles.
“My best experience is just the team atmosphere, you feel like you’re actually family like we are spending four hours a day together and when you actually know each other well enough to know when they feel bad and can actually notice shows they actually care,” Nakic said. “I think that’s what going to stay with me and I am going to remember that for the rest of my life.”
