Seiji Wood
Sports Editor
It was destined for Francis Filipovich to play tennis at Idaho State.
Born in the Philippines, two years spent in Bulgaria and raised in San Diego, he began his childhood participating in karate two blocks away from his house. One day, his older sister was right by some tennis courts and wanted to see what the sport had to offer. Six-year-old Filipovich didn’t have much interest, but like most younger siblings do, he tagged along with his sister and also started playing tennis.
He began with a ball and string, hitting back and forth with his mom. He progressed from there, and, luckily for him, he was a natural.
Oddly enough, the courts he practiced on most every day were on Idaho Street.
“It’s kinda funny looking back at how far that got me,” Filipovich said. “It’s also funny the street I played tennis on was Idaho Street. I thought that was pretty cool.”
It wasn’t until Filipovich’s junior year in high school that he realized he could possibly play collegiate tennis. Up to that point, he just loved the sport and played in tournaments around California.
He knew that scholarships for tennis would be hard to come by, but he saw a few friends and his sister get offers from colleges. That gave him the motivation to also work for that goal.
“I started seeing people I know committing to schools and coaches come to tournaments,” he said. “That set a trigger off, and I knew that I could also pursue that.”
The question now was, where did he want to play? His sister played at South Dakota State University, a Division I school. Once again, like most younger siblings do, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of his sister.
“I really wanted to go to a Division I school,” Filipovich said. “But my main thing was to go somewhere that I would love, a nice environment, good school and the least amount of payments because I didn’t want my family to have to pay for it.”
Filipovich’s plan was to stay close to home, but he still had a few years before he’d have to make a decision. So, for the time being, he continued his training.
He would wake up around 4:30 in the morning to go to the gym. He went to a charter school, which is a cross between homeschool and public school, meaning he would be in school for about three days a week for two hours, and the rest of his school work would be done at home. That schedule gave him more time to focus on tennis.
He and a friend would practice for hours throughout the week. It paid off with his performance in tournaments that raised his ranking enough that Division I schools started taking interest in him.
“I contacted schools, and Idaho State was one of them,” Filipovich said. “I talked to assistant coach at the time, Nate Gross. He eventually invited me over on an official visit.”
During his official visit, he was offered a scholarship to come to ISU. However, he still thought back to his original plan stay close to home. His dad even gave him an incentive to stay in California by offering to buy him a car.
The second semester of Filipovich’s senior year in high school, he decided he didn’t want to stay in California. He wanted to experience something different.
“Someone kept telling my that you can always come back home,” Filipovich said. “It’s four years to experience something new and something different.”
Filipovich never got his car.
Instead, he chose to come to ISU and has never looked back. He’s performed extremely well during his time here. His freshman year, he set a team high 14 wins, sophomore year he had an 8-3 record in conference matches, junior year was his least productive year due to sickness and in his senior year he’s currently 6-2 in conference matches.
“Francis has been consistent from day one. He does everything that I’ve ever asked,” said head coach Mark Rodel. “He works hard and he works at his game. He’s what you would call a consummate professional. I couldn’t be happier with him. Any coach would be happy to have him.”
Filipovich draws one of the bigger fan bases for an individual at ISU. At most home matches, he’ll draw a crowd of 10-20 people supporting him and the rest of the team. He said it all started his freshman year.
“I lived in Turner, and I was actually super nervous and scared to start college. I thought I wasn’t gonna have any friends,” Filipovich said. “Then I just met amazing people. Everybody was so welcoming and down to earth. They knew I was an athlete and wanted to know when my games were.”
His first match against Grand Canyon University, he had 20 people show up with posters for him. He remembers winning his first point and a loud roar of cheering and clapping, which isn’t usually proper tennis tennis etiquette.
Since his freshman year, he’s had a few friends transfer, but he still has those who come out and support him and ISU tennis.
“Some of my friends still don’t understand how tennis works,” Filipovich said with a chuckle. “I try to help them out whenever I can.”
Filipovich is making most of his senior year. Despite being here all four years, there’s usually been a senior above him to be the vocal leader. This year, that falls to him and the other two seniors on the team.
“Just being the youngest throughout the whole time was kinda tough because I wasn’t as vocal,” Filipovich said. “I’m trying to be more vocal now. I’m trying to instill our team culture that’s been developing throughout the years into our freshmen so they can continue that on. I’m just trying to set a better example.”
What Filipovich plans to do after his time at ISU is done is to go to Bulgaria and stay with his father and sister to continue his education and tennis. However, he eventually wants to end up back in Idaho.
No matter how far he may be from Idaho, he knows growing up playing tennis on Idaho Street was more than just a coincidence.
