Home, court: Nicole Rivkin one of several players giving Texas tennis international flavor

Regardless of whom Nicole Rivkin plays when the Texas women’s tennis team takes on Pepperdine in the NCAA Tournament round of 16 Saturday, it won’t be as tough as the first foe she had to face in Austin.

That opponent was the relentless August heat, which greeted Rivkin with temperatures well above 100 degrees when the freshman arrived here from her scenic, sleepy hometown of Bremen in northern Germany.

“I thought, ‘I can handle it,’ but actually I was kind of dying,” Rivkin said before Wednesday’s practice at the Texas Tennis Center. “It was, really, really hot.”

Rivkin has heated up herself as she’s adapted to Austin, college tennis and the weather. After an up-and-down start to the season, she enters Saturday’s duel against Pepperdine as a crucial part of the Longhorns’ team. She has a 17-6 record for the eighth-seeded Longhorns, including a 15-5 mark in dual-match action. Her signature moment came in the Big 12 championship match against Oklahoma in April, when she clinched the title with a hard-fought 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Julia Garcia Ruiz.

“I'm definitely feeling good on the court at the moment, especially since I clinched that match, which was awesome,” she said. “I enjoyed that moment so much with the team. I'm just so pumped and excited about what's coming next this weekend.”

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'Culture shock' part of routine for many international players

Things weren’t always so enjoyable for Rivkin, who said she spent much of the fall semester adjusting to her new home. Like many of the international players in collegiate tennis, Rivkin had to adapt to life in the U.S. while trying to play tennis at an elite level. The two don’t always go hand in hand, as Rivkin found out during a trying first semester.

“To be honest, it was a culture shock,” she said. “I'm coming from Bremen, which is like a small city in Germany. There’s not too many people. And coming to Austin, it's so diverse, with so many people. And there’s so many things are going on in such a busy city, so I had to get used to that. But I really love that about Austin. There's always something to do. And it's such a fun city. So I really enjoy it now.”

Texas women’s coach Howard Joffe understands the difficulties of adjusting to college tennis in America. A generation ago, he arrived at Pepperdine as a brash player from South Africa eager to make his mark. His experience, he said, is especially helpful at a school like Texas, which always has a large international contingent. In addition to Rivkin, Nicole Khirin (Israel), Sabina Zeynalova (Ukraine), Grace Thomas (Australia) and Taisiya Pachkaleva (Russia) joined the program from overseas.

“Maybe there's an element of compassion and empathy from having walked in those shoes,” Joffe said. “I can remember being a freshman at Pepperdine and just everything feeling so overwhelming. The food's different. We don't have friends. We've got to make friends. It's a challenge. And of course, in my view, it's exponentially harder with international kids, particularly those whose first language isn't English.

“One thing that I would give myself a fair amount of credit for — and trust me, I don't give myself a lot of credit — is I’ve got a good antenna for making the landing soft, just with caring for them, which sort of isn't the hat of the tennis coach per se, but the hat of the surrogate father, big brother or something like that.”

'You're on your own. You'd have to be independent.'

Pierre-Yves Bailly, a native of Belgium, is one of three international players for UT's top-ranked men’s team, which will play North Carolina in a round of 16 matchup after the women’s duel with Pepperdine at the Texas Tennis Center. He relates to Rivkin and her efforts to adapt to college life in the U.S., and he said the first semester is especially difficult for new players.

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“First of all, it's tough to come into an environment away from your family,” said Bailly, who’s in his third semester at Texas. “I mean, I still call them (his family) a couple times a week, but you're on your own. You'd have to be independent. So, I mean, the beginning is always like a little adjustment, but I feel like now I’m comfortable here with my teammates. I found my rhythm here, and everything's going really well right now. So I'm really happy here.”

Having some teammates from her new home also helped, Rivkin said. Malaika Rapolu of Cedar Park and Vandegrift High School graduate Gabby Cusano sometimes serve as tour guides of sorts, offering guidance on everything from the top swimming spots to the best burritos at Cabo Bob’s on Guadalupe Street across from the Texas campus.

“When I came here, I was for sure a little bit lost because there were so many changes for me,” Rivkin said. “There were things I had to get used to, and they (Rivkin’s teammates) did a great job to communicate with me and show me around.”

For her part, Rapolu said she’s eager to show off her hometown.

“Yeah, I do like showing them around,” Rapolu said. “We're all so close on the team. I just love all the girls, and we get along really well.”

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Coach: International brand for UT attracts players

As Rivkin grew more comfortable with university life from tennis, Joffe could see her game expand on the court. An accomplished youth player in Germany who regularly competed in tournaments across Europe, Rivkin became a reliable player on her singles line as well as in doubles with Pachkaleva.

“Rivkin is just a lovely, lovely person,” Joffe said. “But Rivkin, I feel like when she came in in August, felt like she was coming on this magic carpet ride to some Taj Mahal. And the landing for her, I think, was sort of rough in the sense that it was everything was different for her.

“Nicole is actually one of the better players, in my view, in college tennis. She wasn't necessarily performing like that earlier in the year. But in the last, I'd say, two months, she has gotten, much more, both feet in the culture, what they're doing and all of those things, and I've just seen a happier and much more successful kid as a result.”

Like many other international players who want to attend college in the U.S., Rivkin sought out Texas. The winning tradition of a program trying to claim a third straight national title caught her attention, she said, but so did the school’s impressive facilities and academic reputation.

That international flair is a trend that won’t — or shouldn’t — slow anytime soon, Joffe said.

“I think it says that the program, in a sense, is a pot of gold,” he said. “And it's sought after to come here and practice and train. It says more, also, about this university. The University of Texas has an international brand, not only in terms of how it's viewed, but also when folks come and see the substance.”

Saturday's NCAA Sweet 16

At Texas Tennis Center

Women: No. 8 Texas vs. No. 9 Pepperdine, noon.

Men: No. 1 Texas vs. No. 14 North Carolina, 3 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Germany's Nicole Rivkin part of international flavor for Texas tennis