Kovacevic's 'incomprehensible' journey from high school bench to Top 100 star

When Aleksandar Kovacevic walks on court for his Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo quarter-final against second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, he will be firmly under the spotlight. The American will be playing a former World No. 3 and 2019 Nitto ATP Finals champion in the latter stages of an ATP Tour event. It is the type of moment he has worked towards since he was a kid.

Not bad for someone who did not start for his high school tennis team as a freshman.

In the spring of 2013, Kovacevic attended Beacon High School, a public school located in Manhattan. The school’s tennis team spent years as not just the best in New York, but one of the best in the country. Hannah Berner, now a famous comedian, competed for the boys’ team before playing for the University of Wisconsin, and countless players went on to college tennis.

Kovacevic was third doubles for that team and only played five matches all season.

“That's one of the cool things for me specifically, is to look back, because I was so far from so many of the guys that I'm playing with now that it's almost incomprehensible,” Kovacevic told ATPTour.com. “Obviously, the work I was putting in when I was 16, 17 wasn't comparable to some of these guys that were pros at 18 years old. But the fact that I kind of am where I am now, compared to where I was in high school days and Beacon is pretty crazy. But we did have a pretty gnarly team!”

Kovacevic first began playing tennis as a five-year-old at Central Park Tennis Centre and would train at various locations including in Harlem and at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre, home of the US Open. According to Aleks’ mother, Milanka, his talent was evident from a young age.

“Even when he didn't go to finals [of tournaments] people would go watch him because they liked his game,” Milanka said. “But the results were not there because I think he was playing more like a pro and his fitness growing up wasn't the best because we just didn't have time. Living in the city [we were] running all over to get to regular school, gifted programs, academically strong schools and then go to tennis and fitness. When people would see him in Central Park, they would say, ‘Oh my God, this is little Federer’.”

^{Kovacevic watched Novak Djokovic at the US Open in 2005 and later trained with him at Flushing Meadows after turning pro.}
A critical moment came when Kovacevic was nine. He began training in the Bronx under Gilad Bloom, who reached No. 61 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and coached Dudi Sela.

“Gilad Bloom always believed that Alex had it, that he had what it took to be a professional,” Milanka said. “Gilad always believed in Alex, even to this day, absolutely.”

Two years later, Bloom became the first director of tennis at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy on Randall’s Island. Kovacevic received a scholarship and trained there through his first year in high school.

When Kovacevic qualified for this year’s Australian Open and reached the second round of the main draw, he received a congratulatory text from McEnroe.

“He used to be my coach for a little bit, actually. He's a pretty busy guy, so he makes some time for me here and there. It was super cool,” Kovacevic said. “I was still kind of a kid, so I didn't realise how cool it was that Johnny Mac was personally coaching me at some points. We still keep in touch… I think he actually shouted me out during Novak's match.

“He just congratulated me on the success. He's said he's been watching from afar and it's great to hear from him especially because he gets quite the criticism on Twitter about not really following a lot of the players outside let's say the Top 50, but it's nice to see him still watching.”

Attending public school and staying on top of the work that came with that while trying to train properly and travel to junior tournaments became a burden. In 10th grade, Kovacevic’s family made the decision to transition him to homeschooling, and he began training in College Park, Maryland at the same facility Frances Tiafoe did.

After one year, Rick Macci, who worked with the likes of Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Andy Roddick, offered Kovacevic a scholarship. The family decided it was the right time to move to Florida. He later trained at the Magallan Tennis Academy before landing at the University of Illinois under head coach Brad Dancer.

“He was not a really sought-after recruit. I remember the fall of his freshman year, when we were doing some fitness on the clay courts, and he was kind of dead last in all the fitness and he really broke down emotionally a little bit,” Dancer said. “I kind of came over saying what's going on? He was like, ‘I just thought I was going to come in here and be the best and be the leader’. And here I am thinking, ‘We brought you in here to be a role player, and see what you could kind of grow over time’.

“It just shows a little bit that he really wanted to lead the team right from the beginning. Even when he wasn't the leader, he wanted to be the leader.”

For his first two seasons at Illinois, Kovacevic played No. 4 singles while Aleksandar Vukic, who has climbed as high as No. 48 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, was No. 1. In high school, Kovacevic “didn’t necessarily have the belief” he would become a pro tennis player. His first two years in college he did not rule out the possibility, but did not necessarily think he would be a pro.

“The real time where I thought it might be possible was my junior year of college. I went from No. 4 singles to No. 1 singles in the offseason before my junior year,” Kovacevic said. “I started the year beating some guys that were Top 20 in the nation in college, and I quickly got up to No. 6 in college and that's when I was like, ‘Oh, wow, maybe I could really actually do this as a career after college’, which was, at the time, still a crazy thought.”

Kovacevic never looked back, becoming a two-time All-American. He spent five years at the school, studying in a graduate business programme for a semester his final year, 2021, before embarking on a professional career.

Last February, Kovacevic won his first ATP Challenger Tour title. Two months later, he reached No. 101 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

“When you're a kid Top 100 is kind of the moment you feel like you really made it, a career as a tennis player,” Kovacevic said. “Your life's work is somewhat validated.”

But he did not put too much stock into the achievement for too long. Still based in Boca Raton, Kovacevic has become close friends with the likes of J.J. Wolf and Tommy Paul, who have climbed higher. Being around them has given him something to continue striving for.

So even though 25-year-old Kovacevic broke into the Top 100 this January at World No. 85, he is focused on continuing his ascent. He recently hired coach Dante Bottini, who spent years with Kei Nishikori and Grigor Dimitrov. The success has been rewarding, but Kovacevic is keen to push forward.

“If I put myself in [my] shoes when I was younger, it's definitely a really cool achievement to say I could have done it. Now the challenge is to stay there,” Kovacevic said. “There's still a lot of a lot more work to do, but I'm happy I definitely crossed that achievement off the list.”