Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Tennis dynamos of Las Vegas: Accomplished local youth players made great gains at camp for elite talent

No Quit Tennis

Steve Marcus

Nikola Dobrijevic, left, and Rocco Mendez, both 11, pose before practice at the No Quit Tennis Academy in Lorenzi Park Tuesday, July 25, 2017.

No Quit Tennis

Nikola Dobrijevic, left, and Rocco Mendez, both 11, pose before practice at the No Quit Tennis Academy in Lorenzi Park Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Launch slideshow »

Las Vegas has a strong tennis tradition, so when the United States Tennis Association decided to hold the first National Junior Tennis and Learning camp in June at its Orlando headquarters, it was no surprise that two local youths were invited.

The camp was looking for the nation’s best and brightest — the NJTL is a nonprofit organization that aims to teach character and leadership through tennis — and 11-year-olds Rocco Mendez and Nikola Dobrijevic fit the description perfectly.

Mendez and Dobrijevic train at the No Quit Academy in Las Vegas, and while both are accomplished youth players, it was their intangible qualities that earned them two of the 24 available spots at the Orlando camp.

“(Nikola) and Rocco were two kids who deserved the opportunity to go,” said James Johnson, who coaches both boys at No Quit. “Based on their records and their character, they deserved it and they got a lot out of it.”

Mendez and Dobrijevic, who are close friends away from tennis, traveled to Orlando and got a chance to work with elite USTA coaches at the four-day camp. In addition to technical instruction, the boys also gained a wider perspective on the sport.

“It was an awesome experience,” Mendez said. “Everything about it. The facility was huge. There was almost a hundred tennis courts, which was very impressive. All the coaches were so nice, and that was a big help. They told us about college and professionalism. I listened as much as I could.”

Though both boys are experienced travelers on the youth circuit, they said the trip to Orlando to work directly with the USTA staff was invaluable.

“The whole camp was really great,” Dobrijevic said. “We were learning about sliding and how to play better on clay. They did a lesson on teaching us how to slide with our nondominant foot and leg. Before I did the sliding drill, I already knew how to slide pretty well because I’m used to doing it on clay, but it helped me with my nondominant foot.”

Mendez, a five-star prospect according to tennisrecruiting.net, cites Rafael Nadal as his favorite player and says the creativity tennis offers initially drew him to the sport.

“I’ve been playing for about eight years now,” he said. “It’s really fun and creative. I like the creativity of the strokes and how you hit it — slices, volleys, tweeners. It’s interesting.”

Dobrijevic is rated as the state’s top prospect in his class by tennisrecruiting.net and takes up the flag for Roger Federer. He said he couldn’t imagine his life without tennis.

“I’ve been playing since I was 3 or 4,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun and it really helps you with daily situations. I have a lot of confidence, I fight and never give up. I love competing.”

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