Three months ago, Zoe Lazar had never practiced with a collegiate tennis team. Now, after an incredible turnaround, she’s starting as a freshman for the Missouri Tigers. It was November 2024 when Lazar left her home in Pinamar, Argentina, to visit the University of Missouri for the first time, and she immediately fell in love with the campus.

“It was tough because I had the visit [at the end] of November, and then I had to decide the week after I visited here,” Lazar said. “But I decided, because I really like the university here and the coaches and teammates — everything was perfect.”

The process was anything but easy. Lazar had to obtain a visa, find housing and complete the entire enrollment process in a few short weeks to be admitted. Once she finally joined the team she knew it would take a lot of work to prepare for matches in January. A big challenge she faced was learning to play on hard courts.

“The courts I played on were clay courts, and here it’s indoor and hard. So it’s really different for me,” Lazar said. “In clay I think you have more time to adapt, the matches are usually longer than they are here. [On hard courts] it’s more like, mentally if you start bad, it’s really hard to win the match. So that’s something I’m trying to improve — start the first point with a plan.”

Head coach Bianca Turati was one of the major reasons Lazar decided to come to Missouri, and now she’s leading the charge to help Lazar with the change.

“It took some time, and it’s still taking some time to adapt to that style because when you play indoors you have to be more aggressive, it’s more difficult to defend, and everything is just quicker,” Turati said. “So with her, we’ve been working on taking away time from the opponent rather than staying far back and trying to play longer rallies.”

Lazar also had to adjust to the dynamics of a team.

“To be part of a team, because I only played individuals, it’s really special,” said Lazar. “And to play for your university and not for yourself, I’m proud.”

Lazar is no stranger to the fierce competition of the SEC. In fact, her only previous experience playing for a team came when she represented Argentina in the World Cup.

“Oh, that was so, so good … I remember it was against Brazil, and I was losing the first set and the second set 5-1, and then I won 7-6 and the tiebreaker was 10-5,” Lazar said. “I really like the environment when your team is cheering for you, and you know that you’re not playing for yourself, so you don’t give up.”

Lazar, now acclimated to the team, is rooming with her doubles partner, graduate student Lailaa Bashir.

“She’s also lefty, so I love that,” said Lazar. “Now I know her pretty well, we live together and when we talk I think we can say what is going on.” With Lazar adapting to a new playing style, openness and feedback have been very beneficial. “We can figure out [those problems] together.”

When the Missouri tennis team signed Lazar after the spring season, it felt out of the blue. For Turati, it was the culmination of months of hard work.

“We started talking to [Lazar] in October, and we saw the [playing] level was pretty good, what we were looking for,” Turati said.

While her level of play was impressive, it wasn’t the only reason Turati decided to recruit Lazar.

“When you are in this tough conference where 10 out of 16 teams are in the top 20 in the rankings … You have to try and find the players that would fit in your culture, that are going to be tough,” Turati said. “She was better than the others, but what really convinced us was her personality, the fact that you can tell when someone is going to be a fighter and when somebody really wants it.”

When Lazar came for her first visit, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to play in the spring, but Turati already believed she could be an immediate asset to the team.

“She was considering two [schools], but she was really more looking to join a school in the fall,” said Turati. “We told her, ‘Look, we would get you in the fall too, but we were out a player in the spring, so if you’re ready for this we will be happy for you to come as early as you can even if it’s a bit rushed’.”

Fast forward three months, and despite everything she’s had to overcome, Turati believes Lazar has already shown some impressive play on the tape.

“She’s doing a very good job … it’s not easy when you join a team in the spring, and you don’t have any time to get used to everything,” said Turati.

Lazar’s game speaks for itself. Although Missouri hit a rough patch in SEC matchups, she has a 6-8 singles record. Despite this being her first stint in doubles competition, Lazar and Bashir are ranked second on the team in doubles wins with a 7-7 record.

“She hasn’t played many doubles matches before coming here, and the doubles point is really important for us,” said Turati. “With her being a lefty player, that’s an advantage. So we’ve been working on core positioning in doubles, especially when she’s at the net.”

With Lazar on the team, the Tigers are already much improved.

“Last year we got five wins overall,” said Turati. “So we are already making progress. It’s not going to be easy, and we’re going to lose some matches, but we’ll have our chances against some of the best teams out there.”

While there’s still a lot to be seen about Missouri’s performance in the SEC, one thing is for sure: Lazar will play a big role on the team for the remainder of this season and beyond.

Edited by Killian Wright | kwright@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com