By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
Most 11-year-olds spend their days playing Nintendo Switch, watching hours of brain rot TikTok videos and adjusting to the perils of middle school.
When Cristina Tiglea was 11, she left home to join the Italian national tennis team.
“I always wanted to play tennis,” said Tiglea, a senior Texas Tech transfer. “There were some days where I’m like, ‘I don’t have a life; I feel kind of lonely,’ because I left home when I was 11 to go practice with the national team. So it was kind of hard. I didn’t have a normal childhood, just like the other tennis players. But I just realized that that’s my life, and I want to keep going.”
Born into a family of professional athletes — Tiglea’s mother and aunt played tennis and her father played rugby — the Milan, Italy native always hoped to make her mother’s dreams a reality.
“I started to play tennis when I was four or five,” Tiglea said. “My mom and aunt were both professional tennis players, but they couldn’t spend a lot of money or invest in their pro career because back then there was Communism, because they are Romanians. So there wasn’t enough support from my grandparents. And I said to myself, I have to carry on; I have to make this dream come true.
“When I was 11 or 12, I felt different than the other kids that were still at school, still playing with the toys, video games,” Tiglea said. “Whenever they were inviting me to do something, I was like, ‘No, I have tennis; I’m sorry.’ For me, it was a job. If a professor was asking me, ‘What do you want to be in five years?’ — I want to be a tennis player. That was my first answer. So, no Plan B.”
Italian law dictates that prospective national team members finish their middle school education. Tiglea, therefore, would alternate: a week practicing with the national team, a month of school and private lessons from her tennis coach and then back again to travel with the national team.
The lifestyle often took her away from her parents for long stretches of time.
“I also have a little sister, that sometimes I regret [not spending] enough time with her, but what I’m doing is also for them,” Tiglea said. “I put a lot of sacrifice, but I never felt like that was too much, leaving from a very young age. Actually it helped me to grow there, and I feel more mature.”
With interest pouring in from American scouts, Tiglea decided to shirk conventional wisdom and head stateside. She moved from Milan to Lubbock to enroll at Texas Tech, where she played her first three seasons of college ball. Then, an awkward exit.
Two weeks before Tiglea was set to represent the Red Raiders at the NCAA Tournament, she entered the transfer portal. Pressure mounted immediately, as some called her a “betrayer.” Several coaches badmouthed Baylor coaches and players and gave her a hard time about her decision, which she says was made for personal reasons.
Baylor cared about her as a person, she said; Texas Tech just wanted her as a player.
“That thing made me realize that I wasted my time there,” Tiglea said.
After leading the Red Raiders to a second-round finish in the NCAA Tournament, she packed up and headed to Waco, where she plays a key role on the team. When asked about individuals, Baylor head coach Joey Scrivano thinks first of Tiglea.
“Immediately, I think of Cristina Tiglea, who transferred from Texas Tech and is, I think, currently 27th-ranked in the country,” Scrivano said. “So that’s gonna be a big deal for her, that event in her mind, she’s going to be trying to earn a spot in that event. All of the girls are, but that’s a player that definitely is going to be having more of a short-term focus [ahead of November’s NCAA individual championships.]”
Tiglea’s presence has immediately been felt off the court, where she’s hit it off with other players. Sophomore Zuzanna Kubacha said their relationship stretches back to Tiglea’s Texas Tech days, when her congeniality immediately stood out to the then-freshman.
“When I first met her, when I first saw her at Texas Tech, back then we still didn’t know that she was going to come here,” Kubacha said. “I literally did not know her, and I did not know any other girl from their team personally, but she was the only one who smiled, and even not knowing me said ‘Hi,’ and said ‘How are you?’ and started talking to me.
“From Day 1, she’s super supportive. She’s a leader. We can tell that she’s a leader on our team. She’s taking things in her hands, she’s not waiting for anybody to speak up, to stand out. She’s the one who’s taking care of us.”
Tiglea kick-started her season on Sept. 25 at the ITA Women’s All-American Championships in Cary, North Carolina, where she lost in two sets after drawing No. 3-ranked Celia-Belle Mohr in the first round.
There’s an added layer of pressure on early-season qualifying tournaments now that the NCAA’s Individual Championships have been pushed to the fall, but Tiglea is ready for the challenge. This is what she lives for.
“I love tennis; I have so much passion,” TIglea said. “I’m really excited and thrilled to finish my college career here. And I have this positive vibe, like, good feeling that we’re gonna do so good during the season in the spring. … I can’t wait.”
