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Kovacevic thriving in new No. 1 singles role

CHAMPAIGN — Growing up on the Upper West Side in New York City, Aleks Kovacevic could look out his window and see a plethora of opportunity.

And places to go. Like Central Park.

The acclaimed venue is where he ran around as kid. Where he first picked up a tennis racket when he was 5 years old, too.

"My parents were both ping-pong pros," Kovacevic said. "We had a ping-pong table in our New York basement. Our house is a five-minute walk from the tennis courts at Central Park. I'd go over there with them and hang around the courts.