Women’s Tennis Signs WTA-Ranked Jelena Lazarevic to NLI

PORTLAND, Ore. --- University of Portland has signed Jelena Lazarevic (Lazarevac, Serbia) to a National Letter of Intent, women’s tennis head coach Susie Campbell-Gross announced on Tuesday. Lazarevic is the No. 4 ranked player in Serbia and is the first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranked player to commit to the Pilots in program history. She is expected to provide an immediate boost to Portland’s lineup.

"We are happy to welcome Jelena to the University of Portland family,” Campbell-Gross said. “Jelena is a tremendous player with lots of international playing experience, primarily playing on the WTA futures circuit. She has had success against many great players and we are excited that she has chosen UP to continue her tennis development as well as her studies.”

Lazarevic had a career-high WTA ranking of 1,016 in August of 2012 and advanced to the semifinals of the WTA Futures event in Pirot, Serbia. Her best victories have come against Bianca Koch (No. 601), Oceane Adam (No. 683) and Dejana Radanovic (No. 792).

“Jelena is very strong in both singles and doubles and she will make an immediate impact,” Campbell-Gross added. “This is a big step forward for our program as Jelena is the first WTA ranked tennis player to commit to UP. We will have a very young team next season comprised of almost exclusively underclassmen. We have a great core of returning players and Jelena fits right in with her work ethic, enthusiasm, and passion for the sport. It will be an exciting year for UP women's tennis.”

Lazarevic will join a talented returning group that includes sophomore Maja Mladenovic, who earned All-West Coast Conference honors after posting a team-best 13 singles wins at the No. 1 position. Tori Troesch, Saroop Dhatt and Emily Gould also had solid freshman campaigns to build upon for the Pilots.