Before coming to the University of Idaho, senior Vicky Lozano was playing tennis professionally in her hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico, but when her twin sister Ale decided to go to college, Vicky chose to join and delay her professional tennis career until after graduation.
Philip Vukelich | Argonaut
Victoria Lozano, senior, practices Sept. 3 on the Memorial Gym tennis courts. The Vandals will be competing in their first collegiate matches at the Boise State Invite in Boise the weekend of Sept. 21.
Lozano is a double major in psychology and nutrition and she noted the challenge of being a student athlete.
“What I learned is to be strong honestly,” Lozano said. “We play a lot of matches. You feel tired, you have to study, you have to do well in your classes. You have to be strong and keep yourself motivated with anything. You have to find a reason to keep going because otherwise you are going to go down, and you don’t want that to happen, obviously.”
Lozano began playing the sport at age seven, perhaps even earlier. She and her sister received scholarships to Idaho at the same time. The whole Lozano family plays, and her uncle played professionally.
When asked about Lozano’s game, coach Myriam Sopel said she is an all-court player who can control the point from the baseline and who is also capable of finishing points at the net. Lozano plays the No. 1 spot for Idaho.
Lozano played in some high-caliber tournaments this summer trying to win a spot in the main draw of the US Open, one of professional tennis’ four grand slams. The first tournament, which was in Missouri, was a US Open pre-qualifying event. Lozano won the mixed doubles division and lost in the singles final. She said the loss was one of the toughest she’s had in her life.
“I lost the final to a very young girl,” Lozano said. “It was emotionally a tough match for me because I was really expecting to win. I don’t know what happened in the match. It was some kind of nervousness, lack of confidence, and I couldn’t believe that a girl way younger than me could have defeated me. It was a tough match. A tough loss.”
Lozano and her mixed doubles partner, Patrick Smith, a former University of Missouri-Kansas City standout, went to New Haven, Connecticut, to play in the US Open Mixed Doubles National Playoffs for a chance to qualify for the main draw. They lost in the first round.
Lozano described her on-court personality as somewhat prone to angry outbursts, but she believes them to be constructive.
“I’m prone to outbursts, but I think that helps me to push myself to do what I want to do,” Lozano said. “If I don’t do anything I feel like a little zombie on-court.”
Lozano is left-handed in everything but tennis — which is intriguing because lefties have a unique advantage in the sport. She couldn’t recall how that happened.
If past results are any indication, Lozano will have a solid season. She went 13-9 in singles play last spring and 16-7 in doubles. She went 7-0 in WAC play with partner Almudena Sanz.
Sopel says she enjoys the challenge that working with Lozano presents.
“She’s really motivated,” Sopel said. “She has a really strong tennis project which happens from time to time in college tennis, but for the most part the players come to get a degree. She not only wants to get a degree and do well academically she also wants to set herself up for a professional tennis career. That’s a good challenge for me as a coach. We sat down, and we set out goals for short, medium, long term for the year, and the years to come… Hopefully get some trophies on the shelf as a UI tennis player, and set her up to be on the WTA tour nine months from now.”
Andrew Deskins can be reached at [email protected].