Matej Zlatkovic, who hails from Slovenia, was named Yale's interim Swensen-McMahon Head Coach of Women's Tennis on June 12, 2015, after serving as an assistant coach for one year. Zlatkovic brings to Yale a strong record of tennis coaching experience at both the national and international level.
Zlatkovic is no stranger to the national collegiate tennis scene, as he served for three years, from 2011 to 2014, as an assistant coach for Illinois State's men's tennis team. His duties at Illinois State ranged from coordinating fitness and weight exercises with players to providing tactical advice during match play.
In 2013, he also served as a traveling coach, tactical adviser and hitting partner for Polona Hercog, Slovenia's top-ranked professional women's tennis player who has been ranked as high as No. 35 in the world in singles and No. 56 in doubles.
Most recently, Zlatkovic served as a tennis instructor at Moussa Drame Tennis Club in Shelter Island, N.Y., where he has provided one-on-one instruction to tennis players every summer since 2010. Zlatkovic also worked as a tennis professional at Tennis Club As Litija and SG Tennis Company, both in Slovenia, where he instructed players of all ages and skill levels.
In 2007 and 2008, Zlatkovic served as a hitting partner at the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Slovenian Open for top professional players, including former World No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion Amelie Mauresmo, Maria Kirilenko, Katarina Srebotnik and Marina Erakovic.
Zlatkovic is also a decorated tennis player in his own right, having played on the Illinois State men's team. He served as team captain at Illinois State from 2010 to 2011, and received Missouri Valley All-Conference recognition in 2009 and 2010 in singles and doubles.
Zlatkovic has also participated in professional men's tennis Futures tournaments through the International Tennis Federation (ITF). He attained a career high world ranking of No. 1,371 in doubles. As a junior player in Slovenia, he won the country's national tournament in 2005 and was consistently ranked among the top five in the nation, reaching a high of No. 2. He also represented Slovenia at several European Championships and once competed against future professional men's tennis star Juan Martin Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion.
Zlatkovic holds a degree in marketing sales from Illinois State's College of Business.
