Timea Bacsinszky, 19: tennis player

Tennis player Timea Bacsinszky is back on court after recovering from a knee injury last year. Both Bacsinszky's parents are from Hungary, she was born in this country, was brought up on Hungarian food, and and speaks Hungarian at their Lausanne home. She tells Swisster about her sense of national identity and how she continues to keep ties with the east European country whenever her busy schedule allows. Timea Bascinszky describes Hungarian as a tough language and says it was easier to subsequently learn German, English and French, plus a smattering of Italian. When asked how Hungarian she feels, Bacsinszky has mixed feelings. “It’s difficult to say whether or not I feel Hungarian because I love my roots and am proud, but at the same time I play for Switzerland and grew up here. Right now I’m feeling a little more Swiss, because of the tennis."
The young player has been head-to-head with some of the world’s current elite in the world of tennis, but after a pulling out of the first round of the Luxembourg tournament last October, is now back on the court and says she has been training hard over the past two weeks.
 
Bacsinszky qualified for the second round at Wimbledon last year, and at the competition in Anvers last February reached the semi-finals, where she was beaten by former number one Justine Henin in three sets.