Gabor Zoltan Pelva is in his fifth season with men's tennis at Auburn, and now he can add the title of associate head coach to his list of accomplishments.
"Coach Pelva is a very determinate and attentive coach," said Lucas Lopasso, sophomore in mechanical engineering. "He's a young guy, and it's impressive he's already an associate head coach."
Other players on the team seem to echo that positive opinion about Pelva and his benefit to the team.
"Coach Pelva is great," said Tim Puetz, senior in economics. "He's helping the team a lot, and he's very valuable for all of us. He's very supportive and understanding, and he does a great job motivating us every day."
Pelva is a native of Novi Sad, Serbia, and his interest in tennis started at a young age.
"I got a soccer ball for my sixth birthday, and our soccer fields were very close to our house," Pelva said. "I used to go there with my dad and kick the ball around."
Pelva said next to the soccer fields was a tennis court, and he became interested in the sport by watching others practicing.
"I was just watching practice just outside the fence, and one day I asked my dad to sign me up for the tennis school there, and that's how I started it," Pelva said.
Pelva's chance for college stardom at Auburn began with a match in Germany in 2002. His opponent at the match was Auburn's assistant coach at the time, Paul Arber, and Pelva ended up winning. Arber asked Pelva after the match if he would be interested in playing tennis in college, and they exchanged contact information.
"I received an e-mail in the fall of 2002, and he told me that Auburn had a scholarship to offer starting in January 2003, and everything started from there," Pelva said. "I went through the entire process, and I transferred here in January 2003."
Although he had a great opportunity ahead of him, Pelva said the transition from Serbia to Auburn was tough, but he had great support.
"I had coach Shore and coach Arber on my side, and they helped me with getting settled in, and they made me feel comfortable," Pelva said. "They made me feel part of the team and the Auburn family, which really helped me a lot because, obviously, I moved away from my family, and that was very difficult."
Pelva said although Serbia is a small country, it is known for a range of sports even beyond the recently recognized tennis.
Soccer, basketball, volleyball, handball and water polo are just a few sports in which Serbia excels.
Serbia recently qualified for the World Cup.
"Tennis is definitely becoming an export for Serbia, and people are recognizing our country just because our athletes are doing so well and they're competing at the highest level," Pelva said.
Pelva said if he could change one thing, it would probably be sustaining injuries at the age of 16, which kept him from pursuing a professional career in tennis.
But he said he has no complaints now.
"I can't complain because coming here and competing for Auburn and being part of the Auburn family was a great experience," Pelva said. "I love my job and the great people that I work with."
Pelva made a name for himself at Auburn even before becoming the assistant and now associate head coach. His long list of accomplishments includes being a two-time All-American and two-time first team All-SEC while playing for Auburn.
According to www.auburntigers.com, he won the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational twice and finished his 2004 season at Auburn as a NCAA singles semifinalist.
Pelva went on to graduate from Auburn in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in exercise science and his master's degree in 2008.
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