Petra Such, 19, envisioned herself as a hopeful, rising star in the tennis world when she took the opportunity to travel half way across the globe to Cerritos College from her native Hungary.

Born in the capital city of Budapest, Such has been playing tennis for 11 years, aiming to perfect her game and rise above the rest of the completion in not only her hometown of Budapest, but her new place of residence, Norwalk, California.

At Cerritos College, she is majoring in business administration, but her priority above all still remains tennis.

That does not mean that she is here to slack off on her grades and put all of her focus on just improving her tennis skills; far from it.

Part of the reason why she fell in love with tennis so much at an early age was because it gave her the possibility of one day opening the door to study abroad as an international student athlete.

“Since I started playing tennis on a higher level, my dream was to study in the United States,” Such admits.

“I specifically chose Cerritos College because of the tennis team.”

Such also admits that she is enjoying her time in the United States because of the warm embrace she feels throughout campus because of her coaching staff and the Cerritos College student body.

“Our coaches and the trainers [do] an excellent job,” she says. “I believe all international athletes are treated well here, and that makes the experience all that much more enjoyable.”

The coaches feel the same about her, especially her head coach for the Cerritos College tennis team, Alvin Kim.

Kim admires her willingness to adapt, resulting in awards for her performance and behavior.

“Petra was originally projected as our #3 player,” Kim said. “But when we lost our top two recruits she was our default #1. She rose to the occasion and will finish All American [Top-10 in state].

“She was voted California Rookie of the year at the State banquet.”

Kim puts a lot of faith in Such, and knows she will get the job done for him, as evident with her nine-game winning streak during the season.

“We just knew that she would take care of business,” Kim concluded.

When asked what motivates Such to continue to give her 100% on the tennis court she said, “My [inspiration] is the love of the game. I can’t imagine my life without it.”

Such hopes she can one day be in the television of many homes, showcasing her talent for the world to see but knows that she must put in the work at school and not lose track of her grades and ambitions.

According to her tennis profile, when not on the tennis court, Such enjoys reading, listening to music and cooking and baking.