Lourdes senior Veldic closes career on top as a state tennis champion
Jun. 9—MINNEAPOLIS — Marjan Veldic had one last chance to win an individual state championship in boys tennis and he made the most of his opportunity.
After coming close the past two seasons, the Lourdes senior climbed to the top of the mountain among Minnesota Class A players on Friday. The big left-hander won two matches, in the semifinals and championship round, to claim the individual Class A state tennis championship.
"It feels amazing," Veldic said.
Winning a state title has been a goal for Veldic since he joined the Lourdes varsity as a seventh-grader.
"It means a lot because it's the last match I'll play in my high school career," he said. "It's just a great way to end out and culminate all my years of practicing tennis."
Veldic toppled Evan Fraser of Mounds Park Academy 6-3, 6-4 in the championship match. Fraser was the defending state champion and he had defeated Veldic in an epic three-hour battle in the 2021 third-place match.
But this time Veldic used his 6-foot-4 frame to thwart Fraser at seemingly every turn to win in straight sets. Fraser entered the match 25-1 and ranked No. 1 in the state.
"I think just a lot of heart, knowing I was a senior and I'd never get this chance again," Veldic said of the difference this time against Fraser.
Veldic entered the state tournament ranked No. 3 in singles. A year ago he was ranked No. 1 and settled for third overall. As a sophomore, after falling to Fraser in the state semifinals, he ended up placing fourth.
"I just had to focus on what my goal was and focus on my serve and realize that's a big part of tennis," Veldic said. "And I have a pretty good one (serve) and that kind of worked in my favor."
In the championship match, Veldic was able to hold his serve nine out of 10 times. He also had the goal of trying to break Fraser's serve and he was able to do that three times, twice in the second set.
"The serve is something he rides that's a very important part of his game," Lourdes coach Steve Tacl said.
Veldic didn't make many mistakes against Fraser, who tried to hit a lot of passing shots. Veldic used his long reach and athleticism to run down and return numerous shots.
"I was just trying to stay focused and not realize the place I was in, and just treat it like any other tennis match and not make it a big deal in my head, even though it was," Veldic said.
The 6-2 Fraser also tried to lob a number of shots over Veldic, with very little success. Veldic got to many of the lob attempts and put down overhead smashes for winning points.
"I just tried to use my body to the best ability that I could," Veldic said.
"For a big guy, he plays some great defense," Tacl said. "He hit some great on-the-run shots and some great defensive lobs to stay in points."
Veldic reached the championship match by rallying past Zahir Hassan of St. Paul Academy Summit 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the state semifinals earlier on Friday. Hassan had defeated Veldic just two days ago during the state team competition between Lourdes and St. Paul Academy.
This time Veldic was able to dig deep and rally to win a long two-out match after falling in the first set.
"I always like to play with heart, but today I think I played with just a little more heart," he said.
He showed his emotion on the winning point in the title match. After hitting an overhead winner at the net, he tumbled to the ground and did a backwards somersault.
Vedic, who will play college tennis at St. Olaf College, closes his senior season with a 25-4 record.
