Entering her second year as a graduate assistant with the NIU women’s tennis program, Ksenija Tihomirova brings years of tennis experience and success.
After beginning her college tennis career at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Tihomirova transferred to Rutgers University where she spent three seasons on the Knights’ team, earning Academic All-Big Ten and ITA Scholar-Athlete accolades. After playing No. 3 singles as a junior at Rutgers, she saw action at the No. 1, 2 and 3 spots her senior season. As a junior, she tied for the team lead in doubles victories.
Before going to Rutgers, Tihomirova was named the 2014 Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year and earned first team All-NEC honors in doubles and was a second team all-league choice in singles. She was named NEC Rookie of the Week three times and NEC Player of the Week once while compiling a 17-11 singles record and winning 16 doubles matches. Tihomirova played No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles against sixth-ranked California in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.
Following her playing career, Tihomirova volunteered as an assistant coach for the Rutgers women’s tennis program while earning undergraduate degrees in criminal justice and political science. She remained in the United States, working as a tennis instructor and in a law office in New Jersey for one year before returning to her native Latvia in August 2018.
She joined the Latvian National Forces and continued her involvement with tennis. Tihomirova served as a tennis hitting professional for the national team and taught private tennis lessons. She competed in the CISM International Military Tennis Championships, in Poland where she won the women’s single flight and was named MVP of a tournament.
Tihomirova earned a law degree from the Riga Graduate School of Law in Latvia in 2021. The Riga, Latvia native, who was a member of the Latvian National Tennis Team and won multiple national championships in that country, speaks seven languages.
