Behind The Racquet

“For me, the option of going pro straight from juniors was never on the table. I was always going to go to college, and I think I made the right choice in going to Georgia.

Where I grew up in North Carolina, I was lucky. I think I made a lot of good decisions when in juniors, I had great parents that encouraged me to play, but never really forced it upon me. I had a lot of great mentors and coaches in Greensboro. Also, I was fortunate enough to have two players my same age that played high-level junior tennis. It was a good place for me to hone my skills as a junior while also keeping a very normal life as a kid growing up, which was important to me.

My goal was to get a college scholarship to alleviate that financial burden on my parents. When I was at Georgia, that’s when I started to really develop as a player and noticed my game improve a lot. And now, college tennis is more in vogue. Look at Emma Navarro, Danielle Collins, Peyton Stearns… Really, it makes sense. It’s hard and you have to be very, very special to turn pro at 18.

College should always be on the table for every player. You can go to college, get stronger physically, mentally mature and prep yourself for the pro tour. Learn how to lose, but also learn how to win.

In my pro career, I was lucky enough to play the big guys a lot and I got lucky a few times. Playing them, it’s an experience you can’t imagine – just getting to be there on the court against them. There’s really no pressure at all, it’s a great position to be in. You’ve earned your spot to play against them on the biggest stages. It’s something I definitely miss and will certainly remember forever.

Looking at American professional tennis now, a lot more players are playing. I still think we need to get more players playing our game. We lose too many men and women to other sports. What Madison Keys did at the Australian Open earlier this year and what Shelton is doing…these are very marketable, incredible players. Tennis is becoming trendy and popular again, so let’s get as many rackets as possible into the hands of young kids.”

“I wrote a note to my parents when I was seven years old trying to negotiate that I didn’t need to go to school. I just needed to go on a tennis court, because I wanted to become a tennis professional.

For whatever reason, my dad threw me into judo at a young age, but I never really liked it. My dad was a tennis coach, but didn’t actually really like tennis growing up himself. He somehow just got thrown out there and tried to make a living. Every time I went to the tennis club, though, my parents had to fight to get me off the court.

I always knew what I wanted to become. There was never a question of going to college if I didn’t perform well in the juniors. College didn’t really exist in my mind. I knew as soon as I finished high school, I was going to go play on the tour and go after my dreams. Top 10 was always a big dream. Of course, winning a Grand Slam would have been the ultimate dream – that’s what you play for. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Struggles are inherently a part of the sport. As tennis players, the negativity is automatically there. You’re having conversations with yourself all the time, but you always have to turn it around, just stay positive and realize how lucky you are to play the sport and make a living with it as well. Yes, sure, there are times I look back and I’m like, ‘I can’t believe I didn’t win a Grand Slam.” I always felt I had the game, the fitness for it. And at my top, I felt like I was very, very hard to beat. But I’m not necessarily regarding it as a failure.

I didn’t really ever think about what I would do after my playing career. Of course, I always thought being around tennis would be somewhat interesting. After traveling my entire life, coaching wasn’t the most appealing option, but the love for the game was still inside me. Once the opportunity came around to being in Indian Wells, it was a no-brainer. The tournament is a player and fan favorite, and it lets me be around Los Angeles, where my two girls go to school. Right now, the way things are going with being tournament director at and still playing and traveling a bit, I’m very happy with the situation.”