Eastern can be an ordinary college to some students. However, for Brazilian tennis standout Juliana Frey, it is a place of opportunity.

Frey decided to enroll at Eastern because her home country doesn’t offer collegiate tennis.

Frey, 17, is in the International Tennis Federation Girls Under 18 division and has been involved in the competitive circuit for the last five years.

Frey graduated from Colegio Positivo in Curitiba. When it came time to pick a college, she desired to be an international student.

“In Brazil, people who go to college have to stop playing because they don’t give any support for sports on universities,” she said. “I wanted to study and continue playing, so I decided to attend a U.S. college.”

Frey said that she isn’t the only tennis player from Brazil attending American colleges. She said many of her tennis friends are going to school in Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.

As Frey was looking at various colleges, she was recruited by Old Dominium University (Norfolk, Va.), University of Louisiana at Monroe (Monroe, La.) and Binghamton University (Binghamton, N.Y.).

The tennis player said she was concerned with academic facilities and campus locations in the U.S., besides the athletic programs. After looking at these colleges, Eastern caught her eye.

“(Some) things that attracted me to attend EIU is the nice environment and the attractive structure of the university’s buildings,” Frey said.

Frey hasn’t played in front of head tennis coach John Blackburn yet, but he saw film of her playing competitive matches and he liked what he saw.

Even though Frey doesn’t know Blackburn’s coaching style, she has a second hand source.

“I read some (good) things about him on the Panther Web site,” Frey said.

A dedicated athlete

Frey started playing tennis 10 years ago. Her coach, Ricardo Pimentel, instilled in her a love and joy of the game that still carries over today.

“I love tennis for its competitive and friendly atmosphere,” Frey said.

The tennis player shows her love for the game by her extensive training. She practices her sport four hours a day- two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon.

She also works on aerobic and bodybuilding conditioning from running and jumping to stretching and weight lifting. To help coup from her stressful five day a week practice cycle, Frey engages in yoga and meditation.

Frey said that she doesn’t have a specific style of play and that she adapts to her opponents’ weaknesses. She models her serve after Ana Ivanovic’s because ‘it’s a very good shot.’

The Brazilian standout has won several tournaments in her home country. She played in ITF tournaments in France, Italy and Paraguay.

Besides winning one competition this year, Frey has had some difficulty this year.

She lost in the first rounds in the Copa Gerdau and Banana Bowl Brazilian tournaments to Monique Albuquerque and Andressa Garcia, respectively.

“I was coming back from an injury when I played those tournaments this year,” Frey said. “Three days before the first tournament, I twisted my ankle while I was practicing, so it was quite difficult for me to play those tournaments.”

Frey said she is a perfectionist while playing against an opponent. If she loses a match, she is disappointed that she didn’t perform to the best of her abilities. This drive might help her achieve her ultimate goal.

“I would really like to become a professional tennis player,” she said.

Away from home

Starting Aug. 17, Frey will be calling Eastern home for the next four years.

She said one of the challenges of being an international student-athlete is being away from her family and friends from Curitiba. Frey’s parents are Nicolas Frey Koiv and Monica Shaefer Frey. She has three brothers: Carlos Eduardo (30), Fernando (28) and Ricardo (15).

Frey said she will keep in contact with her family and friends while trying to remain economic.

“Calling is too expensive so I’d rather chat on the Internet with them,” she said.

The Brazilian native said she is getting her U.S. visa in Sao Pablo Monday, and is eager to come to America.

“I’m looking forward to meeting new people and knowing their way of life,” Frey said.

Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7944 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.