Raul-Alin Dicu– Junior – Finance & Marketing
When did you start playing tennis? How did you get into it?
RD: I started playing when I was five. I started at home in Romania with my dad. He liked to play tennis. He never played professionally but he just enjoyed playing. So, he took me when I was five and we started playing for fun then I started getting some lessons. I started getting really into it when I was about eight or nine.
Throughout your tennis career, who has influenced you the most?
RD: When I was around 16, I worked with coach Crcic from Serbia. He was a pro player in the past and then he stopped. I would say I got a lot of stuff from him. A lot of things that he taught me just clicked in my head. The way he put it into words made it sound easy. The majority of the things I think about now comes from him and his logic. He just helped me simplify things and just helped my mental game a lot.
What has been your most exciting moment at Washburn?
RD: My freshman year, we had a really good spring season and we qualified for nationals. Then, we beat Lander in the first round of nationals and made it to the Elite Eight. That was really just a good year, overall. Then, in the spring of 2019, we played against Southeastern Oklahoma State away. We had another match the previous day and it was a long day, everyone was tired. We had another very long match at Southeastern Oklahoma and we won it at a clinch, so that was a big victory and important step in that spring season because it was an important match to try to qualify for conference.
Favorite quote?
RD: It’s by Warren Buffett: “You don’t need to do extraordinary things to get extraordinary results.” It kind of fits overall with sports and life. It’s more important to be at a good level and be consistent for a long time rather than have spikes and big ups and downs. Overall, just having a positive trend will get you further than doing good for two weeks then being down for three weeks. Consistency is really important.
If you could eat one food/meal for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
RD: I’ll go with the Texas Roadhouse rolls for appetizer and then ribs. The ribs are so good.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
RD: Right now, I have a passion to travel to Australia and New Zealand. I haven’t been there yet and it looks like a cool new place that I’d like to explore. That’s where I would wanna travel in the next couple of years.
What other interesting hobbies or interests do you have?
RD: I like looking at the stock market and investing with my father. He helps me with that. We’re working together on that and it’s enjoyable. My dad has been doing that for a long time and he wanted to teach me and I enjoyed it so he started slowly teaching me since I was younger. I feel like if you start younger, you like it and it sticks with you.
