Florian Lakat is living the best of both worlds - fulfilling his dream of working to become a professional tennis player while earning a world-class education.

His professional dreams started at age 5, and the desire to have other options with a degree came with his tennis and life developments. Through many years of having to make difficult choices, he finally has everything he wants while pursuing his dreams.

Lakat started playing tennis at a young age, even though it didn't run in the family.

“I started tennis when I was 5 years old, completely randomly,” Lakat said. “My dad was an athlete, so I kind of touched a little bit of everything. He saw that I really liked it, and I was good at it for my first time, so the next day I told my dad I wanted to play again and that's how I really got started.”

Lakat's first difficult decision came at age 11, when he had to decide between tennis and basketball. He found his answer intrinsically, choosing tennis because he liked the aspect of “only having yourself to blame if you lose; only having yourself out there on the court.” By age 12, he was recruited by the French Federation of Tennis and was traveling around Europe competing in the game he loved.

When he was 17 or 18, Lakat realized he needed to “study and find a backup if tennis didn't work out.” While looking for options to keep pursuing his sport, a friend suggested collegiate tennis, allowing Lakat to study and keep playing the game he loved. 

In France, Lakat wouldn't have had the opportunity to study and play - “In France, studying and playing tennis doesn't happen” - and for a kid who had been raised by a mother who stressed the importance of an education, he saw collegiate tennis as the perfect opportunity.

Lakat began his collegiate career at Mississippi State, on a reference from the same friend who told him about college tennis. He found a connection with head coach Per Nilsson, who became his mentor and friend. Once Lakat heard Nilsson's plan to leave Mississippi State after his sophomore season, he began to look into other options for his last two collegiate seasons. What he found at Cal was not only a great tennis program, but also a place to even better further his education.

“I tried to shoot for a school that had a great reputation for academics and tennis - Cal is at the top of both,” Lakat said.

He had also heard great things about Cal head coach Peter Wright, and was looking for the same type of connection with a coach that he had lost at Mississippi State. Lakat was looking for someone who had what calls the “human side” of a coach, which he finds more important than any other quality.

Lakat's choice to become a Golden Bear has come with many amazing experiences in a short year, including meeting and warming up with Novak Djokovic, the No. 1-ranked player in the world. Lakat describes that “getting to talk to him and practice with him - that was really a dream come true.” Lakat's dream of becoming a professional tennis player was right before his eyes, and “seeing what the top level really is and how it feels to play against them” has pushed him to want his dream even more.

Lakat is truly the definition of a student-athlete – earning a world-class education while tearing up the collegiate tennis scene, playing every position and scoring wins over Purdue, Oklahoma and Washington. Lakat plans on pursuing a professional career after graduation, but is enjoying his time as a Political Economy major and Golden Bear.