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.
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“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.