Faced with a constant uphill battle, some people make the decision to rise above and fight through while others tend to give up and walk away. Frideric Prandecki, a junior from Las Vegas, Nev. chose the road less traveled and fought through adversity to become a significant member of the men’s tennis team this season.
“I’ve faced adversities all my life and that makes me who I am,” Prandecki said. “I’m not the smartest guy. I just work hard and don’t give up.”
Prandecki had to deal with his parents divorce at the age of 15, and split his childhood years between Poland and Las Vegas.
“I was kind of an outsider always,” Prandecki said. “Whatever I did, it was always uphill for me because I didn’t speak English well, and I didn’t really know Polish so I was just stuck in the middle.”
Money was also a challenge for Prandecki. In order to followg his passion for tennis, it would cost his middle-class family more than they were able to afford. Yet, that still didn’t stop Prandecki from pursuing the sport.
In Prandecki’s junior year of high school, he helped create the Marty Hennessy Junior Tennis Foundation in Las Vegas. This non-profit organization helps mentor, tutor and provide tennis to kids with talent but not the monetary resources to make their dreams a reality. During the foundation’s first year, it raised $50,000 to sponsor Prandecki.
“They sponsored me and now look where I am–the kids can look up to me now,” Prandecki said. “It’s a really big accomplishment.”
Coming to N.C. State, Prandecki was really excited because he said he never thought he would be able go to school.
“I remember when I graduated, my dad came up to me and said ‘I never thought you’d graduate from high school,'” Prandecki said.
The first few years in college proved to be a bit challenging for Prandecki. according to coach Jon Choboy.
“Freddy’s kind of taken the same path as [senior] Christian Welte did, as far as maturing and kind of growing up on the court,” Choboy said. “He’s evolved here and heís evolving into a pretty strong contributor on the court for us, which says a lot.”
As one of the captains on the team, Prandecki mostly plays No. 3 doubles and says he prefers it to singles.
“I just never give up,” Prandecki said. “[Against Arizona,] Rob Lowe and I were down 5-1 and we ended up wining the match 9-7. That was a big comeback, and we got the doubles point. We just dug deep and the next thing you know we’d win the point.”
Prandecki’s never surrender attitude helps uplift the team as well consistently secure doubles points according to redshirt freshman Eric Turner.
“You always know that he’s going to give 100%,” Turner said. “He’s just not going to go away. Freddy is just the best at bringing everyone together as well. If there are any problems on the team he’ll make sure the guys work it out.”
Prandecki really enjoys the team’s chemistry, yet traveling to tournaments is his favorite part about this whole experience.
“Without tennis, I wouldn’t have been able to be at the places where I am today,” Prandecki said. “Every weekend, we travel to some place different, like Florida or Hawaii or Tennessee. It’s just a cool aspect of this sport.”
Prandecki is the team’s go-to guy for problems as well as a great source for energy.
“Freddy brings a lot of the energy,” Choboy said. “You feed off him on the court. He’s diving for balls, hustling and working. He believes one point can turn a match around, and he never feels like he’s out of the match.”
