'Djokovic Threw Us Two Racquets': Rising Star Opens Up About Meeting Idol

| by Evita Mueller

Rising star Marina Stakusic grew up idolizing Novak Djokovic, and she had a pretty cool moment with the legend.

Marina Stakusic has been kicking around for a while now but the 19-year-old drew the attention of the wider tennis audience with her performances for Canada at the recent Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

The country won the event thanks to her heroics and the superb play of Leylah Fernandez, who caught fire at the right time. Stakusic has Serbian roots, so the fact that growing up she was idolizing Novak Djokovic shouldn't be a huge surprise.

She followed him for much of her life and has a pretty cool memory of him from about 11 years ago. When she was 7-8, Stakusic went to the Toronto event to watch him play in the final, and after the match, Djokovic threw her two racquets.

I think when I was around 5 or 6, we went to the National Bank Open in Toronto and we watched him. When I was 7 or 8 we watched him in the final there and after the final he threw us two racquets. I still have them. That was an unreal moment. I’ve seen him many times as a fan, but I’ve never met him in person.

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Tennis isn't something that runs in her family, so the fact that she started to play the sport was pretty much by chance. She still recalls how her brother started playing after he was bought racquets and she kind of picked it up as well.

None of my family plays tennis, but when my brother was five years old, my parents bought Walmart racquets and they went to play outside. He started playing and they thought they should put him into tennis.

The Billie Jean King Cup experience was amazing for her as she found an incredible level of tennis besting some impressive players to help her country win the competition. She just loves competing, and the future certainly looks bright.

I love competing. I love hitting the ball. It's therapeutic. When I'm on court all my problems disappear. There's something in me that just loves holding a racquet, playing in front of people.

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