TicketsFeb. 10, 2011
By Shawn Sell
GoBEARCATS.com
UC senior tennis player Ksenia Slynko puts the student into student-athlete. A native of Odessa, Ukraine, Slynko has achieved much both on and off the court since arriving in the United States three years ago. And she's not done yet.
As impressive as Slynko's accolades have been on the court for the Bearcats, her achievements in the classroom are even greater. Slynko has already earned her BA in Economics (March 2010) and is on track to receive a Master's in Applied Economics by the end of 2011. Not bad for someone that started her collegiate studies overseas before realizing a dream of earning a scholarship to play tennis and study at UC.
"I had learned that it was possible to get a tennis scholarship in the United States," Slynko says in solid English, one of three languages she speaks (Ukrainian Russian and French are the others). "I came to visit and I really liked the girls on the team and I loved the school so I decided to come here. Plus, there was a girl on the team that graduated my first year here that was originally from Ukraine and I knew her from junior tournaments."
Since arriving at Cincinnati, Slynko has accepted the challenge of solidifying the No. 1 spot in the Bearcats' line-up, nearly always playing against the opponents' top player. She entered her senior year with a career dual match record of 30-19 and has lost just once in BIG EAST Tournament play. To her coach, third-year UC mentor Angela Wilson, Slynko is a natural for the No. 1 position.
"Ksenia is an awfully skilled player and fights very hard," Wilson says. "She is very mentally tough during her matches. She is able to evaluate her opponents' strengths and weaknesses pretty early on and knows the same about her own game that particular day. Everybody has good things and bad things going on with their game on a given day. Ksenia is pretty good at that; she never gives up. She knows there is no clock in tennis; she could be down but she keeps fighting. She has the mental toughness as well. You put all those things together and that makes for a pretty good No. 1 player."
As the calendar has flipped over to 2011, Slynko has, as expected, been challenged. Despite setbacks in her first five matches of the new year, Slynko has played hard and should see the fruits of her labor soon, according to Wilson.
"We've played some very tough teams," Wilson says. "The only match she had where she really struggled was the Ohio State match; that girl was really good. She has competed really well every time, but every team has a great number one. She is always going to have a tough match, but she knows that and mentally gets ready for it. The tough matches that we've had will help her in the next matches coming up. Even though she lost, I believe a lot of times you learn a lot more from your losses than your wins."
It didn't take Slynko long to adjust to life in the United States, thanks in part to good time management skills acquired in high school. To her the biggest differences from Ukraine to the U.S. have come from a diversity standpoint.
"It's different in the sense that most of the population is Ukrainians so there isn't as much diversity of population," she says. "Plus, the country is much smaller; the population is only 27 million people."
Slynko hails from Odessa, just off the Black Sea, and the fourth-largest city in Ukraine with a population just over one million, compared to two million-plus in Greater Cincinnati. While growing up in Odessa, Slynko worked on honing the skills that have made her the Bearcats' top player from a young age, first picking up tennis at five years old. She played in her first tournament at seven and has been hooked on the game ever since.
"Tennis was really growing (in Ukraine) when I started to play," she says. "There are a lot of really good juniors right now and a lot of professionals as well."
And so with just a portion of her senior season remaining, does Slynko hope to one day join the ranks of professional players from Ukraine?
"No," she says with a laugh. "I've devoted my life to academics and in five years, I will get my PhD in economics and start work. But I know I will keep playing for fun."