At this year’s US Open tennis championships, many of the top American junior players found themselves facing a pivotal fork in the road. Players including Asia Muhammed and Kristie Ahn, are now entering their junior and senior years of high school. With a full year of classes (if not more) ahead of them, they have already been contacted by some of the best universities in the country, including Stanford and Princeton, with guarantees of full athletic scholarships if they commit to playing on their tennis team. However, these teenagers already possess a game well beyond their years. They already have the ability to compete at the professional level and are aware of the relatively small time frame they have to utilize their talents. This ultimately begs a crucial question for these players and their families: Is it best to turn pro or go to college?
For many in the tennis community, college tennis is almost seen as a consolation prize; for those who lack the ability to make it on the pro tour, they have the opportunity to receive a free education. The odds of becoming a successful player on the pro tour after college are slim at best. Out of the tens of thousands of women who competed at the college level over the last 15 years, only five of them have ever cracked the top 100 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. Only two of these girls (Jill Craybas and Julie Ditty) actually graduated from their school of choice; the rest dropped out by their sophomore year to pursue their careers. This year’s NCAA champion, Amanda McDowell of Georgia Tech, is currently ranked No. 797 in the world
“The level of play in college tennis is not nearly what it used to be 15 or 20 years ago,” said Lisa Raymond, the 1992 and 1993 NCAA women’s singles champion. “Players don’t have that same opportunity to compete and develop their games anymore.”
[ad#adify-300×250]
The lack of strong competition at the college level has prompted top American junior Asia Muhammed to turn professional this summer. In declaring their pro status and accepting prize money, she is no longer allowed to compete at the amateur level. This means she is not only giving up her chances to play college tennis, but is also forfeiting any athletic scholarship opportunities should she choose to go to college in the future.
“America is the only place where college tennis is really even an option,” said Muhammed, 17. In Europe or Australia, you turn professional when you’re young and then go back to college if you haven’t made it on tour. There isn’t that intermediate step.”
Despite now having the chance to pursue her dreams of tennis stardom, players like Muhammed now have to face the realization of the cost and time commitment that it takes to compete at this level. Unlike most sports, professional tennis tournaments are held year round at locations all over the world. The majority of players travel for at least 30 weeks a year, completely on their own, and often in foreign locations where they don’t know the language. The international travel, combined with the coaching that takes place at home, leads to a staggering bill that is often placed on the shoulders of their families.
“I would say that it costs about $50,000 a year to compete on the tour, and if that’s if you’re doing it very cheaply,” said Mashona Washington, a 31 year old player from Houston. “If you travel with a coach, you can pretty much double that amount.”
Muhammed is also coached partly by her father, which brings up a potentially harmful situation. Although she doesn’t have to pay for a coach, Muhammed now faces the responsibility of becoming the primary breadwinner in their family while not even out of her teen years. In many cases, the decision to turn pro is that of the parents and not the child themselves.
“There are some girls who are turning pro right now and there isn’t anything about their game that stands out,” said Raymond. “Being a professional athlete can be an incredibly tough life at times. I think it’s important for most of these girls to at least go to college initially and be able to mature as people. Playing with the pros and actually becoming a pro are two completely different things.”
Factors such as this have prompted Kristie Ahn to keep her amateur status and plan on attending college for all four years, regardless of her professional results.
“I don’t see the big rush to turn pro right away,” said Ahn. “Rather than focusing on the pros, I’m just glad to have the honor of being of the top junior players in the country.”
While many of her contemporaries have shuttled off to tennis academies in California and Florida, Ahn has heeded the advice of her family and remained at home in New Jersey. She takes classes at home and limits her tournament schedule to roughly one event per month. While Ahn has yet to make a decision about attending a particular college, she believes that she can find a balance between attending college and competing in professional events.
“Everybody says that college is the best four years of your life and I really want to experience that,” said Ahn. “Even if the level of play in college isn’t that strong, I can still play pro events during the summer.”
While there will always be exceptions to the rule, Dr. Jack Ditty, the tournament director in Ashland, feels that many players are short changing themselves by not getting an education.
“So many of these girls invest their entire lives into tennis and leave with no money, nothing to show for it, and no education,” said Dr. Ditty. “What kind of life is that?”
He cites his daughter Julie, a current pro on the WTA Tour, as an example that a player can get a college degree and still be successful in tennis. After graduating from Vanderbilt in 2002 with a degree in early childhood education, Julie turned pro. After five years of competing on tour, she had a breakout year in 2007 and finished just outside of the top 100. In January of 2008, she made her main draw debut in a Grand Slam at the Australian Open. At the age of 29, she became the oldest player in WTA history to make their debut showing at a Grand Slam.
“If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely still have gone to college,” said Ditty. “It takes the pressure off me as a player because in the worst case scenario, I have a degree to fall back on. I don’t know if I would have achieved more as a pro by starting earlier, but by finishing up at Vanderbilt, I now have something that will last me for the rest of my life.”
Brodsky Impresses in Pro Debut
Although Gail Brodsky is winless in her first two matches as a professional tennis player, she’s given American tennis fans something to stand up and take notice about.
After hanging tough with top 60 player Ekaterina Makarova in the first set of her pro debut, a WTA event in Forest Hills, Brodsky moved on to the US Open, where she faced world #14 Agnes Szavay in the opening round. In front of a standing room only crowd on Court 7, the Brooklyn native gave Szavay all that she could handle, holding a set point in the first set before losing 7-5, 6-2.
“The whole experience was really nerve wracking, which was definitely unexpected,” said Brodsky. “My hands were shaking at the beginning of the match.”
Brodsky’s exuberant personality quickly brought the New York crowd on her side. While her frequent fist pumps or yells of frustration appeared to be a case of being over excited by the occasion, Brodsky said showing her emotions actually benefits her on the court.
“It just helps me get my anger out,” said Brodsky. “If I keep it inside, I feel like I might play the next point worse or hit a bad shot. I’d rather just let it all out before I play and be calm for the next point.”
Growing up in Coney Island, Brodsky was introduced to tennis on local public courts at the age of six by her father. While Brodsky excelled as a standout junior player in the Eastern region, the limited court time (one hour per day) and number of balls (a maximum of three) that players are allowed to use on New York City public courts prompted Brodsky and her father to seek assistance from Weil Tennis Academy in California.
[ad#adify-300×250]
“When we were starting out in Brooklyn, we would have people trying to kick us off the courts and tell us we were using too many balls,” said Brodsky. “My dad was giving me drills and people were giving us trouble. Thanks to Mark Weil and his academy, we were able to raise my game to a whole other level than I would have been able to in Brooklyn.”
With an abundance of coaching and resources in California, Brodsky’s game flourished. This summer, she reached the finals of the USTA Girls 18s National Championships and became the top ranked junior in the country. She also began to show signs of life on the pro tour, reaching the quarters of a $50,000 tournament in Vancouver.
Brodsky said her recent results prompted her to turn professional, foregoing college tennis for the opportunity to pursue her dream of being a top player.
“My parents always said it was going to be my decision,” said Brodsky. “And very recently, I think it was August 14th, I sat my family down and said that I was ready to go pro. They were very supportive and just said that we should give it a shot.”
After competing in the junior tournament at the US Open next week, Brodsky will head out for four consecutive tournaments on the USTA Pro Circuit, the tennis equivalent of Triple A in baseball. While her ranking currently sits at No. 382, Brodsky said that she has much loftier intentions for the future.
“I think anybody you ask would tell you they want to be No. 1 in the world,” said Brodsky. “The question is whether I can keep pushing to get there, but that’s definitely my goal for the future.”
For Julie Ditty, US Open Run Is A Sign Of Things To Come
After struggling with self-doubt about whether she belonged with the top girls on the WTA Tour, Julie Ditty is starting to produce the results that her former coach, Pat Van der Meer, said she is more than capable of.
Julie Ditty’s fairytale run continued on Friday at the US Open with a second round win in the Women’s Doubles event. According to Van der Meer, results like these are just a sign of things to come.
“I really believe that Julie has the ability to start reaching the quarterfinals and better in doubles at the Grand Slams on a regular basis,” said Van der Meer. “She’s just as good as any of the other girls out there.”
Ditty and fellow American Carly Gullickson defeated the team of Tathiana Garbin and Tamira Paszek 7-5, 6-4, marking the first time that either Ditty or Gullickson have reached the third round at a Grand Slam. Attacking Garbin’s weak service deliveries, the pair broke Garbin three times and came back from 4-2 in the second set.
Gullickson was the star player in the match, attacking the net throughout the match as she frequently poached across the net for winning volleys. Ditty said that Gullickson’s strong play helped carry them to victory on Court 8.
“She was really helping me out on the court today,” said Ditty. “I was struggling out there, but sometimes you have to win ugly and I’m just really happy to be in the third round.”
While many of the doubles teams competing at the US Open choose to play from the baseline, Ditty and Gullickson have adopted a more traditional form of doubles play. Both players served and volleyed on their first serves and looked for opportunities to attack the net throughout the match.
Ray Ruffels, who has helped coach Ditty throughout the summer, said the more conventional doubles play they have used will help them in the long run.
“Part of the reasons so many players stand back is because the volleying at the women’s level is pretty poor overall,” said Ruffels. “There’s so many specific shots like drop volleys or short angles that you can use against a team who is at the baseline. Because both Julie and Carly are so good up at the net, there’s no reason why they can’t be successful playing the way they are right now.”
[ad#adify-300×250]
Ditty said that she and Gullickson have also been successful this week because of their strong friendship. The pair first met when Gullickson, as a 12 year old, would train with Ditty at Vanderbilt University, where she was an All-American NCAA player. While both Ditty and Gullickson have been competing together on tour for the last few years, this is the first time they have played doubles together.
“I almost feel like she’s my sister,” Ditty said. “We have a great friendship off the court and you always want to play with somebody that you get along with.”
Finishing up her first full year of competing exclusively on the WTA Tour, Ditty said that she has struggled with the higher level of competition.
“It’s been a real eye opener to me,” said Ditty after her first round win on Wednesday. “The girls at this level are so much stronger and they have the belief that they belong out here, which is something I struggle with at times.”
After winning three titles and compiling a 29-13 record in 2007 on the USTA Pro Circuit, the tennis equivalent of Triple A in baseball, Ditty has gone 2-15 in main draw matches on the WTA Tour in 2008, with the majority of her wins this year coming in the qualifying rounds.
“It was really important for Julie to make that jump to the next level,” Van der Meer. “She was getting too comfortable playing in the same tournaments.”
In the final tournament of her first 12 months on the WTA Tour, Van der Meer said the mental and technical aspects of Ditty’s game are beginning to come together.
“We’ve told her so many times how good she is and I think she’s finally starting to get that confidence,” said Van der Meer. “She’s starting to use her left-handedness by incorporating slice and topspin more as well. It might be too late this year because the season is winding down, but I really believe that Julie is ready to have a breakout year on tour next year.”
Coin Makes US Open Her Coming Out Party
Earlier this summer, Julie Coin was so unhappy with the state of her tennis game that she considered hanging up her rackets at the end of the year.
It’s safe to say those thoughts have been removed from her mind.
In one of the biggest upsets in tennis history, the No. 188 ranked Coin shocked top seeded Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round of the US Open. Prior to this week, the 25 year old Frenchwoman had never won a main draw match at the WTA Tour level and had yet to defeat a player ranked in the top 100.
“I haven’t realized that I’ve beaten the number one player in the world,” said Coin. “I’m just really enjoying this moment now. I don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight.”
Regularly hitting first serves at 110 MPH, Coin appeared unfazed by the large crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. On her fourth break point opportunity at 3-3 in the first set, she hit a forehand that forced an error from Ivanovic. Two games later, a backhand error from Ivanovic gave Coin the first set.
Both players held their serves until 4-3 in the second set, when Coin began to get tentative on her groundstokes and allowed Ivanovic back into the match. The 20 year old Serbian won the last three games off the match without the loss of a set.
At 2-2 in the final set, a forehand passing shot by Coin gave her the only break of the set. A double fault by Coin and forehand winner by Ivanovic erased Coin’s first two match points, but a forehand that landed long on the third match point moved Coin into a third round match up with No. 32 seed Amelie Mauresmo on Saturday.
“I’ve seen Amelie play before because she’s from my region,” said Coin. “She’s kind of an idol in France. Everybody loves her. She’s the one whose footsteps we want follow in a little bit.”
[ad#adify-300×250]
Having turned pro in 2005 after an oustanding NCAA career at Clemson University, where she was a three time All-American ranked as high as No.2 in the country, Coin said she found it difficult to transfer her college success into solid professional results and struggled with life on tour.
Having won the majority of her matches in college, Coin found herself on the Challenger circuit, the equivalent of Triple A in baseball, regularly losing to unknown players in unglamorous locations.
“It’s really hard to compete at this (the challenger) level,” said Coin. “You have to do everything yourself and sometimes you compete in places which aren’t very nice. The level is tough too because everyone has to go through these tournaments before going on the WTA tour.”
Although she won four singles titles on the challenger circuit, Coin never managed to qualify for the main draw of a WTA event. The week before the US Open qualifying began, Coin lost in the first round of qualifying at a $50,000 challenger to Kelly Liggan, an Irish player ranked No. 423 in the world.
Despondent over her career, Coin said that results like these made her consider retiring from tennis and putting her mathematical sciences degree from Clemson to use.
“I was thinking, ‘Am I really made to play tennis?'” said Coin. “Am I going to be able to get into the top 100 one day? Because it’s not worth it unless you’re able to do that. I was thinking about maybe stopping at the end of this year.”
Through working with her mental coach at home, Coin was able to relieve herself of the doubts in her game. Regardless of what happens the rest of this tournament, Coin said she is satisfied with her performance at the US Open.
“Everybody was telling me to enjoy the moment,” said Coin. “It’s great when you win a point and everyone is getting all excited, after the match point everyone is screaming. I really don’t know how I did it. Today was just perfect.”
For Julie Ditty, A Career First At Age 29
At an age where many of her contemporaries have long since retired, Julie Ditty is producing the best results of her career.
In front of a standing room only crowd on Court 5, Ditty won a round in a Grand Slam for the first time in her career. Teaming with fellow American Carly Gullickson, the wild card pair beat the team of Tamarine Tanasugarn and Yaroslava Shvedova 7-5, 6-1.
“It feels awesome,” said Ditty. “We were one out from getting directly into the main draw, so I’m glad we were able to take advantage of being wild carded in.”
Displaying more tactical doubles skills than their opponents, who were pinned at the baseline throughout the match, Ditty and Gullickson regularly put away winning volleys as they attacked the net throughout the contest.
After breaking Shvedova’s serve to take a 2-0 lead in the second set, they broke her serve once again to consolidate their lead. A service winner by Gullickson on their first match point at 5-1 sent them into the next round, where they will take on the team of Tathiana Garbin and Tamira Paszek.
Although this is the first time that Ditty and Gullickson have paired up in doubles, Ditty said they’ve known each other for more than a decade.
“I’ve known her since she was 13,” Ditty said. “When I was on the team at Vanderbilt, she would come to hit with us because she was based out of Nashville. She’s a great girl and we have a lot of fun together out on the court.”
After years of toiling away on the challenger circuit, Ditty has produced the best results of her career in the last 12 months. She cracked the top 100 for the first time, reached the semifinals at a WTA event in Quebec City, and competed in the singles main draw at three Grand Slam events in 2008.
Despite her rapid progression, Ditty said that her first full year on the WTA Tour has shown her just how much she needs to improve.
[ad#adify-300×250]
“It’s been a real eye opener,” Ditty said. “I’m still kind of feeling my way through it. Everybody is so much stronger physically at this level and they have the belief that they belong here, which is something I struggle with at times. I’ve really had to improve my level of play and my fitness considerably just to be able to contend.”
Part of Ditty’s late blooming status on the tour is due to the fact that she didn’t turn professional until the age of 22, opting to gain a degree in early childhood education from Vanderbilt University while remaining of the top NCAA in the country. Fellow Americans Venus Williams and Jill Craybas are the only other players in the top 100 with college degrees.
Many of the American teenagers competing at the US Open, including Melanie Oudin and Asia Muhammad, have already turned professional, therefore foregoing their opportunity to play college tennis. While both Oudin and Muhammad spoke of the need to face stronger competition and utilize their talent tennis, Ditty said she has no regrets about finishing her education.
“If I had to do it all over again, I would in a second,” Ditty said. “I loved the experience of being able to compete on a team and have your friends around. Once you get on the tour, you’re by yourself all year and don’t have anybody cheering you on.”
In addition to gaining the college experience, Ditty said her years at Vanderbilt have allowed her time on tour to be less stressful.
“It takes the pressure off me a little bit because in the worst case scenario, I have a degree to fall back on. For a lot of these girls out here, this is their one shot. They can always go back to college afterwards, but they won’t be able to college tennis and probably won’t be able to receive a scholarship.”
Having already achieved a career milestone in winning her first main draw match at a Grand Slam, Ditty will look to beat her own personal best result when she plays her second round match on Friday.
An Unexpected Summer Vacation For Local Girl Ahn
Kristie Ahn lost her first round match at the US Open, but gained a whole new fan base on Tuesday at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Hitting multiple winners from the baseline and maintaining a high percentage of first serves throughout the match, the 16 year old from New Jersey hung tough with No. 6 seed Dinara Safina in losing 6-3, 6-4.
“My attitude is to fear no one, but respect everyone,” said Ahn. “I didn’t want to give her more credit than she deserved before going out there. It’s a first round match and a lot of upsets take place early in the tournament,”
Despite losing serve while trailing 3-2 in the first set, Ahn fought off break points in her next two service games to keep within striking distance of Safina. Safina became visibly frustrated by Ahn’s retrieving skills as she threw her racquet several times during the match.
Trailing 4-3 in the second set, Ahn leveled the match by breaking Safina’s serve on her fifth break point opportunity. It would be the last game Ahn would win in the match as Safina broke her serve to love at 4-4, and then served out the match to reserve a spot in the second round.
“Players at this level just seem to handle the pressure better,” said Ahn, who is only competing in her fourth professional tournament. It seemed like Safina was able to utilize her serve out there when it mattered most.”
Having grown up in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, a 45 minute drive from the USTA/Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Ahn has declined to move south for training unlike many of her peers on the junior circuit, choosing to instead train at home.
“My parents and I talked about it and they said they would prefer for me to stay at home for now,” said Ahn. I feel like you establish a better relationship with a private coach anyway.
[ad#adify-300×250]
Ahn said that she hadn’t even considered playing pro tournaments until this year, and entered a $10,000 tournament last May in Pennsylvania simply to gain experience. After winning the event, Ahn entered another $10,000 event in Texas, coming through the qualifying to win her second consecutive event. These two wins prompted the USTA to give her a wild card into the qualifying of the US Open, which she utilized by advancing into the main draw without the loss of a set.
Despite her rapid progress on the tour, Ahn said that she is still intent on intending college once she graduates from high school.
“Even if I defeated Safina, it still wouldn’t be the wisest decision to turn pro right away,”said Ahn. “Once you turn pro, it just adds all this pressure which isn’t necessary right now.
Ahn has already competed against this year’s NCAA champion, Amanda McDowell, easily defeating her 6-0, 6-2 at the $10,000 event in Texas. Despite the routine win against the best college player in the country, Ahn said that she sees other benefits to attending college.
“Everybody I’ve talked to says that college is the best four years of your life,” said Ahn. “I’ve always played well in team events and it would be unbelievable to be around that atmosphere. Even if the level isn’t that high, I can always travel and play pro events during the summer.”
Asia Muhammad, a 17 year old American who recently turned professional, said on Monday that college tennis is a distraction for young American players and called for upcoming junior players to take their tennis more seriously. While Ahn said she agrees with the need for more focus amongst top junior players, she also sees the benefits of playing at the junior level.
“I think rather than worrying about turning pro right away, you should appreciate being one of the top juniors in the country,” said Ahn. “It’s a tremendous honor to be able to have that distinction.
Despite Ahn’s grounded personality, she said that she envisions a career for herself on the pro tour and wants more of the experiences that she had today on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
“It was a privilege to be able to play on that stadium today,” Ahn said. “When the crowd was getting behind me out there and cheering my name, it’s something that I’ll never forget. It’s something that I want to get to experience more.”
Muhammad Establishes Herself In First Round Loss
Asia Muhammad said that she wanted to make her US Open debut a lasting one, but became of the first players to be eliminated from the tournament on day one.
Struggling with her serve and Rezai’s aggressive baseline play, the 17 year old Muhammad wasted a 3-0 lead in the second set in losing to Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai 6-2, 6-4. The victory allowed Rezai to gain her first win during the American hard court season and snap a five match losing streak in the process.
“I just have to make a decision to be aggressive out there and the rest will take care of itself,” Muhammad said. “That’s what everybody has been saying all along. It’s just a matter of whether or not I’m able to do it consistently.”
Despite the loss, Muhammad impressed the packed crowd on Court 11. Showing a more mature shot selection and willingness to construct points then she did when competing in the US Open qualifying last year, Muhammad took advantage of Rezai’s serving troubles in the second set by breaking early to take a 3-0 lead.
Muhammad served three consecutive double faults to give the break back to Rezai, allowing the Frenchwoman to regain her momentum in the match. At 4-4 in the second set, Rezai broke Muhammad’s serve at love before closing out the match on her own serve with a forehand winner.
“I played well to get to that point, but held back once I got the lead,” Muhammad said.
Despite the loss, Muhammad said that she could see noticeable improvements in her game.
“As long as you learn from every match, then it’s a good match in my mind,” Muhammad said. “I felt much less nervous out on the court than last year and was able to feed off the crowd instead of being overwhelmed by it.”
[ad#adify-300×250]
Growing up in Las Vegas, Muhammad began playing tennis at the Boys and Girls Club in Las Vegas that was founded by Andre Agassi. She trained there until recently hiring a full-time coach, Tim Blenkiron, but is still mentored by both Agassi and his wife, tennis legend Steffi Graf.
“If you ask anybody in Las Vegas about Andre Agassi, they only have positive things to say about him” Muhammad said. “He founded a school that’s completely paid for and helps keeps the younger kids out of trouble. And I’m so thankful that he did it. Without him, I wouldn’t be anywhere.”
Muhammad said that in addition to offering advice, she’s also had the opportunity to train with both Agassi and Graf on their private tennis court.
“It was pretty overwhelming at first, but I’m comfortable with the both of them now,” Muhammad said. “I hit with Steffi three weeks ago at home and Andre also comes out on occasion. He also helped me with strategy before playing some clay court tournaments this year.
Spurred on by strong results at the challenger level in 2008, including reaching the finals at a $50,000 event in her hometown of Las Vegas, Muhammad said that she decided to turn pro this year while still competing in top level junior tournaments. Having had the chance to compete against several players in the top 100, Muhammad said has been inspired by the intensity of her colleagues on tour.
“They take it far more seriously than junior players do,” Muhammad said. “This is their job, so this is how they’re going to make
While many of her peers from the junior circuit have decided to forego the pro tour and attend college instead, Muhammad said that she has decided to adopt a more international approach.
“In Europe, they don’t really have national events and there’s not the differentiation between college and pro tennis,” Muhammad said. “You go to college if you haven’t made it as a pro player.”
Muhammad said that upcoming American players need to start taking the game more seriously in order for American tennis to break out its slump.
“In my experience, a lot of junior players view the national tournaments as a big social event,” Muhammad said, “There needs to be more focus amongst some of the girls out there. We have a lot of young and talented players coming up, and we have the ability to make it. It’s all about your mindset.”
Local Girl Ahn Advances At US Open
Kristie Ahn said she entered her first professional events this summer simply to gain experience. She’s now just one match away from an experience that seemed inconceivable two months ago: reaching the main draw of the US Open.
Storming out to a 5-0 lead in the first set, the 16 year old Ahn, a wildcard into the qualifying event, moved into the final qualifying round by defeating No. 31 seed Jelena Pandzic 6-1, 6-3.
Matching Pandzic’s power from the baseline and hitting with far more accuracy, Ahn won the last six games of the match as she took advantage of Pandzic’s errors throughout the match.
“I felt a lot better in this match than I did yesterday,” Ahn said. “She moves very well, but I know that girls at this level are going to miss eventually and was ready to grind it out on the court today.”
The US Open is only the fourth professional tournament of Ahn’s career. Having already won two $10,000 tournaments this summer, Ahn said she has found the transition to pro tennis far easier than anticipated.
[ad#adify-300×250]
“I definitely wasn’t expecting to win tournaments this quickly,” Ahn said. “I wasn’t even thinking about playing pro tournaments until the beginning of this year.”
Having grown up in nearby Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, Ahn had several dozen supporters who loudly cheered her on throughout the match against Pandzic. Ahn said she has been making the 45 minute commute from home throughout the tournament.
“I wouldn’t mind staying in a nice hotel room,” Ahn laughed. “It’s nice to be home though when you’re playing in a tournament.”
With Ahn’s recent success this summer, she said that going directly to college is now up in the air.
“I’m thinking about taking a year off after high school and playing more pro tournaments before making a decision from there,” Ahn said.
With two years until her high school graduation and a ranking that’s on the rise, the decision about whether or not to turn professional might arrive sooner than Ahn could have anticipated.
Groenefeld Looks To Erase The Past
While all of the players competing in the US Open qualifying are hoping to move on to becoming top-ranked players, one player is looking to do so for a second time.
Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who reached a career high ranking of No. 14 in 2006, is back competing in the qualifying for the first time in four years, as she looks to rebound from a nightmare 2007 season. She moved one step closer to qualifying for the main draw, easily defeating Regina Kulikova 6-4, 6-2 in a second round match.
The big serves and heavy groundstrokes that were so prevalent in Groenefeld’s game when she reached the 2006 French Open quarterfinals appeared as though they had never left. Attacking the ball early and controlling most of the rallies, Groenefeld jumped out to early leads in both sets as she advanced in just over an hour.
“I didn’t lose serve once today, so that was very good for me,” Groenefeld said. “Because I was able to break her serve once more in the second set, I started to feel very comfortable from that point on.”
The confidence that Groenefeld currently has in her game wasn’t easy to regain after a 2007 season that featured a high-profile breakup with her coach, Rafael Font De Mora. After the break-up, Font De Mora publicly criticized Groenefeld’s weight and physical appearance. He also sat courtside at Groenefeld’s matches whenever possible, offering tactical advice to her opponents.
[ad#adify-300×250]
“It wasn’t easy for me to play with all of these distractions,” Groenefeld said.
After ending the summer of 2007 with a 6-16 record and with her ranking well outside the top 150, Groenefeld said that she took a self-imposed break from tennis in order to get her career back on track.
“I was playing the whole time, but it was never at one-hundred percent obviously,” Groenefeld said. “There’s no way you can do that unless you’re completely focused.”
After ten months away from the tour, Groenefeld hired a new coach, Dirk Dier, and worked on getting herself back into shape both mentally and physically.
“The first thing he told me was that I had to have fun doing this,” Groenefeld said. “Otherwise, there was no point.”
With a renewed sense of determination, Groenefeld returned to the tour last May on the challenger circuit. She quickly won four challenger titles and reached the finals of a WTA Tour event in Budapest.
Groenefeld said that while she has always believed she could return to the top of women’s tennis, she didn’t expect to be winning tournaments so quickly.
“I couldn’t be any happier with the results so far,” Groenefeld said. “To be winning this many tournaments so far is just amazing.”
Groenefeld said that she credits Dier for not only saving her career, but giving her the balance that her life had been missing.
“He’s been making practice fun and of course is also offering some good tactical advice,” Groenefeld said. “I love the way we work together and hope we can continue this for the rest of my career.”
Stevenson Falters In US Open Comeback Bid
At the end of last year, Alexandra Stevenson proclaimed that she still has the game to crack the top 5 and, most importantly, win a Grand Slam tournament.
She’ll have to wait until next season to get that chance again.
Hampered by a low-service percentage throughout the match, and a shoulder injury late in the third set, Stevenson fell to 0-9 at the US Open as she lost to Chin-Wei Chan, of Chinese Taipei, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 in the first round of the 2008 US Open qualifying tournament.
Despite possessing ample strength from the baseline, Stevenson, 27, found herself playing defensive tennis against the diminutive Chan, often seeming to be overpowered by someone who lacked power on their ground strokes. Despite not possessing a weapon, Chan’s impressive tactical play and sound volleys gave her an early break in the first set.
After trading service holds for the rest of the set, Stevenson began to take control of the long baseline rallies and move Chan around the court. She broke Chan while trailing 4-5 and then broke her to clinch the first set.
[ad#adify-300×250]
As the second set progressed, Stevenson’s first serve percentage dropped as her serves became increasingly softer. Chan took advantage of a clearly ailing Stevenson by punishing her weak serves and frequently moving forward to the net. Chan won six straight games in taking the second set 6-3, and storming to a 3-0 lead in the third set.
After taking a medical timeout for treatment on her right shoulder, Stevenson changed up her approach and began giving herself extra margin on her shots by hitting the ball down the middle of the court. Chan began to get tight in the later stages of the third set, failing to serve out the match as Stevenson leveled the final set at 5-5.
With the match nearing three hours, fitness became the deciding factor in the match as Stevenson was unable to maintain her foot speed in the New York summer heat. After failing to capitalize on two break point opportunities to serve out the match, a dejected Stevenson was broken at love, sending Chan into a second round qualifying match against No. 11 seed Yaroslava Shvedova, of Kazhakstan.
Stevenson burst onto the scene in 1999, reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon as a qualifier. She achieved a career-high ranking of No. 18 in 2002. Shoulder problems and surgery have slowed her progress since 2005.