Zehra Suko couldn’t wait to finish high school and to become a Dawg as quickly as she possibly could.
Suko graduated high school a year before she planned to — in December, 2022. She joined the Dawgs in January of 2023, beginning her lifelong dream of becoming a Dawg.
Suko grew up just across Lake Washington in Kirkland. While her mom earned her PhD from UW and she grew up attending UW tennis matches, Suko knew that attending Washington would always be a dream come true.
Her brother, Nedim, is on the men’s tennis team at Washington, and being on campus and in the tennis center with him all the time has been a crazy experience, Suko said.
“Growing up we were very close and have gotten to travel the world together, so being able to attend university together is the craziest thing. We have so much fun,” Suko said about her older brother.
HOMETOWN ROOTS
Suko began playing tennis around the age of seven and has been attending Husky tennis matches for as long as she can remember.
She noted that her grandfather got her, and her entire family, into the game of tennis and she has her family to thank for helping her make it to the collegiate level.
“Genuinely, they have taught me so much,” Suko said, about her parents. “Coming to this country as refugees and building so many opportunities for my brother and I — everyday I am so grateful that they are my parents. Not a lot of people can go to a university in their hometown and have their whole family there to support them, so it’s quite special.”
?????????? ?????????????????? // ?????????? ????????
Our influencer queen & hometown product ?????
>> https://t.co/CsRhk7MoNS#GoHuskies x #BetterTogether pic.twitter.com/Q6h4v8UakP
— Washington Women’s Tennis (@UW_WTennis) June 4, 2024
A CULTURE OF CHARACTER
From growing up in the Washington athletic department footprint to recruiting calls with Head Coach Robin Stephenson during high school, it didn’t take much convincing for Suko to know that UW was somewhere she wanted to be.
She competed her first season for the Huskies in 2023 after graduating high school a year early, but then took a redshirt year during her sophomore campaign, taking additional time to train and focus on developing her tennis.
With four graduating seniors in 2024 and half the team moving on from Husky tennis, Suko is one of the self-proclaimed “New Era Dawgs” (proclaimed by Suko, Catherine Gagnon, Alexia Jacobs and Erika Matsuda).
Suko looks…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at University of Washington Athletics…