By Jim Hague
NEWARK, NJ -- After trying her hand at several different sports, like softball and basketball, when she was in elementary school in Jersey City, Fergie-Ross Montero, at age 13, found a liking for tennis.
Little did she know that the sport would totally change her life forever.
“I started playing tennis through a friend in Lincoln Park in Jersey City,” said Montero, a senior on the Rutgers-Newark women’s tennis team this fall. “Being 13 when I started, I actually started later. It looked like one of those sports that was easy to play, that was until I started playing. I figured I had to learn more about the sport.”
Montero liked the fact that tennis was more of an individual sport, setting it apart from softball and basketball.
“I was always very shy, so I thought tennis helped me build my confidence and focus on what I had to do on every level,” Montero said. “It helped that a lot of my close friends were into tennis as well. I took a major liking to tennis. It helped that I lived within walking distance of the Lincoln Park courts.”
Once Montero was bitten by the tennis bug, she became totally infected by the sport.
“I really became obsessed with it,” Montero said. “I would get up to play tennis every morning, especially in the summer, for like five hours a day. I pretty much lived at the courts.”
So Montero’s dedication helped her to make up for the lost time she had getting a late start on learning tennis.
“I heard from people that it was pretty impressive that I came so far after starting so late,” Montero said.
“It was very encouraging to me. I never received any negative feedback. I wanted to keep up with it.”
Montero was set on beating the odds _ a product of an inner-city area that wanted to excel in a generally suburban sport like tennis.
“I generally didn’t let anything like that stop me,” Montero said. “I just knew that I wanted to keep playing tennis.”
Montero took her burgeoning tennis skills to Marist High School in Bayonne, where she played for one of the most recognized tennis teachers in northern New Jersey, Lou Radondo.
“He helped me a lot,” Montero said of Coach Radondo. “He taught me a lot on the basics and fundamentals of the game. He worked with me all the time.”
Montero earned the Most Improved Player award at Marist during her junior year and as a senior, she helped to lead the Royal Knights to an HCIAA Seglio Division championship.
It was also evident early on that Montero was very serious about her academic work, as she graduated No. 4 in her senior class at Marist.
When Montero graduated from high school, she knew that she wanted to continue to play tennis on the collegiate level, so she enrolled at Rutgers-Newark, which was trying to establish itself as a successful program under new coach Kevin Morris.
Morris, a tennis player in college who also doubles as the women’s basketball coach at Rutgers-Newark, needed to find dedicated performers who could help turn the tide for the Scarlet Raiders.
“Lou Radondo recommended Fergie to me and she came in right away and became our first singles player as a freshman,” Morris said.
“That was intense for me,” Montero said. “It was a little intimidating, being the first singles right away. It was a big change for me.”
“I think we won three matches as a team,” Morris said. “But Fergie was there every day.”
However, things turned around significantly a year later. The Scarlet Raiders were dramatically improved, going 11-1 as a team. Montero was a main cog, posting a personal mark of 11-3 in singles play and 5-6 in doubles. She also earned NJAC Player of the Week for leading the Scarlet Raiders to big wins over Georgian Court and Richard Stockton.
“She’s the key,” Morris said. “We went from a team that couldn’t win to a team that won regularly, thanks to her efforts. She had as important of a role as anyone. Her work ethic and performance on the court carried us.”
Last year, the Scarlet Raiders went 21-7 as a team, with Montero having another solid campaign, posting records of 11-7 in singles play and 8-7 in doubles.
“It’s really great to see the dynamics of the team change so dramatically since I’ve been here,” Montero said. “My sophomore year, teams were shocked that we came in and beat them. Not anymore. It’s a great feeling.”
So as Montero enters her final season with the Scarlet Raiders, she knows that she’s had a big hand in the turnaround, but is also sentimental as well.
“It’s almost a bittersweet feeling,” Montero said. “It’s great to see how much we’ve changed things, but it’s sad that I’m leaving. The level of player coming in has increased. We’re a better program now.”
Morris believes Montero deserves a lot of the credit.
“She’s wonderful,” Morris said. “She’s a coach’s dream. I’ve been doing this for 20 years and I never had anyone who was more of a complete package. I never have to worry about Fergie. She’s always on time. She’s versatile. She runs down every ball. She’s working hard all the time. She really is a coach’s dream.”
Montero is also a dream in the classroom as well. She’s currently carrying a double major of Pre-Med and Psychology.
“I’m going to be in school for a pretty long time,” she laughed.
Montero will take a year off from school after graduation to pursue her dream of becoming an emergency medical technician. After that, Montero will more than likely go after a doctorate in either psychiatry or neurology.
“I’m still deciding that,” she said.
Montero has been able to juggle the hectic academic schedule with her tennis regimen.
“Doing both has taught me to have a lot of patience,” Montero said. “I learned to calm myself down, knowing I have to handle a lot. It’s been really encouraging to know that I could do both and do well in both academics and tennis. It keeps me busy.”
It has also made her a role model for other aspiring student athletes, especially those who serve and volley.
“I am definitely proud with what I’ve been able to do at Rutgers-Newark,” Montero said. “I just hope I have spread the word about tennis.”
