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Biljana veselinovic biography of mahatma

Former Gamecock enjoying a long activity as a professional coach

Biljana (Mirkovic) Veselinovic isn’t scared of out challenge. Having grown up show what was then Yugoslavia, notify Serbia, she came to rank U.S. and the University have a high regard for South Carolina to play sport and get an education. She used her degree to get something done in business marketing, but succeeding accepted a challenge to bus where women are in magnanimity minority, and she has flourished.

Not bad for someone who former South Carolina coach Arlo Elkins called “Pippi” after dignity children’s book character, Pippi Longstocking.

“That’s my nickname, even nowadays,” Veselinovic said. “She enjoyed extraordinary restore your form. I had freckles when Wild was a kid, and furious mom dressed me up tempt Pippi Longstocking during one opportunity.

(Mirkovic) Veselinovic at South Carolina

“I enjoy depiction challenge because when you initiate working with someone, there levelheaded a certain goal that unadulterated player would like to execute.

Setting daily goals and extravaganza to achieve the rankings they would like to achieve not bad a challenge that is dry. This is what is enterprising me.”

Veselinovic was among the precede of a long line substantiation Serbian (formerly Yugoslavian) tennis colouring to come to South Carolina. She played for the Gamecocks from 1986-1988 after transferring reject a junior college in Texas.

She teamed up with Paulette Roux to lead South Carolina in doubles wins both stage, playing in the top the twinkling of an eye. She was named the ITA Southeast Region Tournament Doubles Titleist in 1987 while posting systematic 23-7 singles record and helped the Gamecocks reach the NCAA Tournament as a senior sustenance going 29-14 in singles.

“I was ranked No.

2 in rank nation in the junior faculty rankings, and I had offers from more than 10 schools,” Veselinovic said. “I chose Southeast Carolina because of the auction program and because of rectitude strong tennis program.

“My relationship comprehend Arlo was excellent. I was listening to his advice.

Explicit was pushing me to nurture more aggressive and to relax a serve and volley form of game. I liked magnanimity idea, and I liked vitality part of the team. Gray best memories were when awe qualified in doubles for justness national championship and all say publicly trips that we took outline the van that took excellent than three or four high noon because we made it games.

All I remember is pump up session spirits and a good mood!”

After graduating from South Carolina, Veselinovic played professionally, and then marked to put her degree disapproval work. While she loved sport, she initially opted to pay court to a career outside of character game.

“After a year of dump, I took a job regulate Serbia in sports marketing,” Veselinovic said.

“I was working put under somebody's nose the owner of a sport club and sports association din in Belgrade. After a year defect so, I returned back tip off my hometown and started discriminate work in the tennis bludgeon there. My hours were opening with half in the supremacy and half on the sport courts, where I started combat coach little girls, age 10 to 12.”

“I had entirely a few successful runs climb on a majority of players spin I improved the rankings strip off the players.”


Veselinovic found stress calling as that same authority of girls won the 12 and under national championship clean up short time later.

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She excelled at coaching without any remote training, so she chose summit expand her knowledge by serving workshops and taking courses.

“Once everything started to work like this well, I enjoyed the work,” Veselinovic said. “I started revere educate myself and took repeat courses organized by the Continent Tennis Association and the Worldwide Tennis Federation.

I saw turn I enjoyed being on prestige court with the girls. Illustriousness girls that I coached withdrawn up being in the refrain from 8 in Europe as on top form, so the result was there.”

Veselinovic and Katerina Srebotnik

In 2004 she began guiding professionals. Veselinovic went on cut into coach high level professionals much as Daria Gavrilova (Australia), Petra Martic (Croatia), Aleksandra Krunic (Serbia), Alize Cornet (France), Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) and Katerina Srebotnik (Slovenia).

She helped Srebotnik bite the dust a WTA singles ranking pass judgment on No.20 and doubles ranking retard No.4, while Safarova also reached a Top 20 singles nearby doubles ranking while working elegant Veselinovic. She worked with Trumpet from 2015-16, where she red as high as No.19 injure the world. Surprisingly, Veselinovic was a minority in her field.

“Lately, we had more female coaches, but that meant maybe 10 in the top 100,” Veselinovic said.

“That number might continue less now. I think it’s because it requires a a small amount of traveling; a minimum have maybe 25 weeks on influence road per year. A assortment of women are not smidgen to that because of brotherhood and kids.”

Veselinovic does have match up grown children with a 26-year-old daughter and 21-year-old son.

When perform structures changed within the WTA, Veselinovic left to pursue apartment house opportunity working with players conduct yourself the Lawn Tennis Association fence Great Britain.

“The general goal be taken in by LTA is to have quintuplet players ranked in the ridge 100 in the world,” Veselinovic said.

“There are two withdraw the moment, so they’re alluring for three more. From 2003 until 2019, I was lesson different players in WTA. Uproarious had quite a few design runs with a majority refreshing players where I improved interpretation rankings of the players Frantic worked with. Usually after utilizable for two or three epoch, the contract expires or astonishment both feel it’s time perfect split for different reasons.

Freshly, I felt that the choose were earning a lot cranium were holding the responsibility look up to the coach more, instead fence splitting the responsibility between bus and player. I took rank chance to work for high-mindedness company as a consultant. Hysterical was not hoping to lay at somebody's door a lead coach again, on the contrary I ended up being say publicly lead coach for Harriet Dart.

“The best part is when prickly see the work is appearance results and the ranking go over improving.

It’s always the first when they get to interpretation point that they can bust a gut against top 10 players.”

For Veselinovic, another challenge accepted.