Bradenton’s Mark Oljaca makes stop on comeback tour at Sarasota Open

On a sparsely crowded opening morning of the Sarasota Open qualifying draw at United Tennis Academy, Mark Oljaca stood out at Firkins Stadium — not just because of the neon yellow shirt with matching hat and wristbands, but because of the noise that supported him.

The Bradenton native’s every success was met with a louder-than-normal cheer. His every failure greeted by encouraging claps and shouts. For a wild-card entrant into the qualifying draw of an ATP Challenger Tour tournament, Oljaca found outsized support.

“I live here; my parents live here,” Oljaca said, “so it’s nice to be home for the week.”

The 27-year-old’s comeback is only about six months old, and it took a brief stop at the Sarasota Open on Saturday. The Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School alumnus, who has been back in Bradenton since October, lost to fellow American Bradley Klahn, 6-3, 6-3, in the first round of qualifying.

Right now, Oljaca is just trying to play as frequently as possible — from tournaments as big as the Sarasota Open to ones as small as the Broward Spring Open earlier this month, an event he netted a few hundred dollars for winning. He has been in a tournament nearly every week since his comeback began, and since February he has begun to feel comfortable back on the court following a two-year hiatus.

“It took a while to get back in shape and to feel sharp on the court,” Oljaca said. “I do hope to become a little more selective with my tournament schedule at some point when things come together as far as a full program, but until then I just need to be on the court every day.”

Oljaca never planned to be away from playing tennis for long, but in the summer of 2014 he didn’t have a choice. Money was running short, and he needed to find some way to rebuild a nest egg to cover tournament entry fees.

Oljaca was training at the John McEnroe Tennis Academy in New York, and the staff offered to bring him on as a coach. For two years, he went from struggling to find footing on the professional tour to working with some of the best rising American stars. Last year, he went to France with Noah Rubin, serving as a de facto traveling coach for the then-20-year-old, as he competed at the Bordeaux Challenger and the French Open.

Oljaca made occasional appearances on the court. He played in Bordeaux; tried a handful of ITF men’s futures events in Canada, Guam and Houston.

“I never lost the passion for playing,” Oljaca said. “Coaching only made me want to play more.”

And the McEnroe Tennis Academy treated him well in that regard. When Oljaca wasn’t playing, he was spending up to 55 hours a week coaching either in a traditional manner or in the classroom. Oljaca, who was a psychology major at South Florida, became the first mental toughness coach in the McEnroe Academy’s history.

Oljaca understands the sort of irony of it — teaching players how to control their emotions at an academy founded by one of the sport’s notorious hotheads — but it forced him to set an example for his students and the calmness has carried over to his comeback.

Oljaca never possessed a singles ranking from the International Tennis Federation (ITF) or Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been out of the sport at a competitive level for years. But this is his last chance to take the long shot at a professional career. Every little outing — even if it only lasts a few hours — will help.

“There were a lot of great perks that came with the job up there, so I loved being there, too, but I knew if I did it any longer, as well, that it was just going to wear me down further,” Oljaca said. “I just wanted to get back in it before I lost too much ground to make up.”

This story was originally published April 15, 2017 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Bradenton’s Mark Oljaca makes stop on comeback tour at Sarasota Open."