Escape From Balkans Lands Budisavljevic on Pierce Court

WOODLAND HILLS —  When Milos Budisavljevic first strode onto a tennis court at Pierce College three months ago, it’s safe to say he made an immediate impression.

At 6 feet 6 and 218 pounds, how could he not?

But what stands out in Paul Xanthos’ memory occurred the following day, when Budisavljevic returned for a tryout with the men’s tennis team.

“When he started hitting those big serves and hitting those bullets, I said, ‘Oh my God, what have I got here?’ ” Xanthos recalled.

Xanthos, the Brahmas’ 78-year-old coach, still hasn’t figured that out.

Immensely talented but wildly inconsistent, Budisavljevic is a Croatian who immigrated from Italy in December. He became the top player for Pierce this season despite a seven-year layoff from competitive tennis.

The amicable 21-year-old will make another stab at refining his game this week in the 99th Ojai Valley tournament, which runs today through Sunday, and he has qualified in doubles for the Southern California Regional tournament next week.

His 4-6 singles record doesn’t strike fear in opponents, but it’s not discouraging for an athlete who rarely picked up a racket while playing semi-pro basketball in Italy the last five years.

“I’m not at all disappointed,” Budisavljevic said. “I just wanted to stay in shape and play tennis.”

Although he was a highly regarded youth player in Croatia, Budisavljevic gave up playing competitive tennis when he was 14, about a year after his family moved to Italy to escape the war-torn Balkans.

He fully understood his parents’ motivation to move him and his two sisters.

“With the war, the situation, there was no possibility to grow up in a healthy environment,” he said.

A frustrated Budisavljevic abhors the strife that has gripped his former homeland and the draconian policies set by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

While Budisavljevic staunchly opposes Milosevic’s brutal treatment of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, he also is critical of NATO’s bombing campaign to stop “ethnic cleansing.”

“It’s sad,” he said. “I just think it’s internal business. I am kind of critical [of the bombing]. I think [NATO] should have done it another way. If that’s the only way to stop [Milosevic], I’m for it. But if it’s going to make it worse . . . we’ll never know.”

Budisavljevic, whose family still owns a house in Croatia, was saddened recently to hear of the bombing-related trauma endured by his aunt, who lives in Belgrade.

“My mom contacted her and it got very emotional,” he said. “They cried on the phone. They can’t believe what’s going on. My aunt practically lives underground because the [bomb-warning] sirens are coming on every half hour . . . She lives in a big condo, and every condo has a bomb shelter.”

Budisavljevic also expressed concern for his former tennis coach, who lives in Belgrade.

Growing up in the Croatian city of Split, Budisavljevic was a serious tennis player starting at age 5. One of his hitting partners was high-ranking pro Goran Ivanisevic, another tall left-hander whose aggressive serve-and-volley style was adopted by Budisavljevic.

“Once I took the racket in my hands, that was my game,” he said. “When I was younger, I’d try the toughest shots. My coach used to tell me if you can make the tough shots, it makes the other shots easier.”

But tough shots don’t always stay on the court. In his matches for Pierce, Budisavljevic frequently finds his hard smashes sailing beyond the baseline, a byproduct of his long layoff from playing and his impatience.

“He was pretty wild at first,” Xanthos said. “I’d hear him screaming and yelling all over the place. The angrier he got, the harder he hit the ball and the more misses he made.

“He’s got power. He just has to learn to control it. That will come from experience, because he’s smart. He knows what he needs to do, he just has to be patient.”

Budisavljevic started the season as Pierce’s No. 2 singles player and ascended to the No. 1 spot last week after Joey Schimmel left the team for personal reasons.

After taking his lumps early in the season, Budisavljevic has shown improvement in recent matches by extending some of the top players in the Western State Conference.

He lost to Santa Barbara’s Brad Plough, 6-1, 6-0, in their first meeting, but forced a third set in losing to Plough, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2, in the second round of conference play. Last week, Budisavljevic gave John Reading, the No. 1 player for WSC-champion Glendale, a competitive match before falling, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).

But Budisavljevic’s inconsistency showed in the WSC tournament Friday, when he was dispatched in the second round by Brad Tyler, Glendale’s No. 3 player. Tyler won, 6-2, 3-0, when Budisavljevic retired after straining his hip.

The loss prevented Budisavljevic from qualifying for singles competition in the Southern California Regional on April 30-May 2 at Sheraton Industry Hills.

However, Budisavljevic and doubles partner Sonny Warda did qualify.

With a year remaining at Pierce, Budisavljevic is hopeful he can improve sufficiently during the off-season to earn a scholarship to a four-year college.

In the meantime, he is quickly adapting to his adopted country. He has an American girlfriend and is considering a career in U.S. law enforcement as a forensics worker.

“I would like to stay and live here, because this country gives you a lot of possibilities and opportunities,” he said.

Budisavljevic said he’d like to return to Croatia, but only to visit. The myriad problems confronting his former homeland have made him grateful his family was able to escape the horrors of war.

“Because my dad makes good money working on ships, it allowed us to move to Italy,” he said. “That was my good fortune. Others were not so fortunate.”