My time at UCLA was surely not just about having the great college experience. As a student-athlete life is pretty different from that of the average students. More than often the pressure to excel on the court, the constant pain we have to go through running sprints and lifting weights, and the struggle to maintain an above average GPA was unbearable… we student-athletes call it “the GRIND” and honestly I can say that it is not all that fun, but after you get the pay back, it is way worth it.
Considering how much my team and I have been through I would say the NCAA Team Championship made all the pain go away. I mean, we are part of history now. Part of the history of an institution that is not only one of the finest and most recognized universities in the world, but the WINNINGEST in NCAA Championships in the nation. We locked in at #102. But, which I think is even GREATER is that we were the first team of five UCLA teams that won in the Championship round. I mean it took UCLA six times to finally win it! The tennis program was always the at the top in the country, but now we finally proved it to everyone and ourselves that we are truly No. 1.
After all the yelling, hugging, crying, and laughing, with my teammates that day, I went on to end my NCAA run in the singles quarterfinal round and the with my first and last NCAA Doubles Championship with my fellow senior Tracy Lin. We both were overcome with disbelief… there was absolutely no way that we would have envisioned winning as much as we did and becoming No. 1 in the nation… when our coaches merely paired together in the middle of the season because my original partner, Yasmin Schnack got badly injured. Now, Tracy wasn’t even in the doubles line up early in the year, and I find it miraculous that we turned out to be a formidable team.
Now that we both finished our four years of eligibility I am going to turn pro and try my luck on the circuit, while Tracy is going to retire from tennis, study for her MCATS and become a doctor. However, our Championship earned us a wildcard into the US Open in New York this August, so I told her she won’t be going into retirement just yet! This will be my third time going there… the last time was 2003 and 2004 when I won the Girls 18s Doubles Championships with Anne Yelsey and Audra Cohen, respectively. It was such an AMAZING way to close up the chapter of my junior/ pre-college tennis career… and it is even SWEETER to go back there to open up a new chapter for my pro career!
I have already received many opportunities to play in the professional events. This summer I got wildcards into the Stanford Bank of the West Classic and the LA Eastwest Bank Classic. I played doubles at Stanford with Anne and we won our first round! We beat Patty Schnyder and her partner in the third set super tiebreaker! It was bizarre playing with no Ad scoring and a 10 point super-tiebreak for the third set. It was not too difficult to adjust to, but the match goes pretty quickly so you have to be really focused and execute on the first opportunity.
I have so much more to say about playing in front of the crowds, in a night match, and against the Euopeans! These European women are really tough cookies and I am happy to say that I am not as intimidated by them as I used to be! I also no longer feel out of place here… it has been a struggle transition from college mentality to professional. I played in the singles qualies in LA, and it was definitely a good match. I was soo in there competing toe to toe with my opponent who was a solid veteran… yet there was slight hesitation, a minute glimpse of failure that kept me from executing. I have to stop looking for the end result, and instead stay in the moment: trying to win every point and stay postively in tune with myself. I realize that being in tune with yourself, listening to your body and smiling really helps in competition. Now, that will be so crucial for me to master. I am out there by myself now with no coach at the bench telling me “it’s okay, you got this,” or “fight!” on change overs. There are no more teammates behind me, fighting next to me, and for me… like cutting off a life-line, the blood in your veins that goes straight to the heart. We could never ever have won our national championship without that life-line: that we wanted to win it so badly for EACH OTHER more so than for our-selves.
At the present I am in LA training for New York. I am planning on flying out the 7th to JFK and get into the $50K Bronx Challenger. Tracy and I may try to play in a WTA tournament in Forest Hills, New Haven the week before the Open. After performing impressively at the LA Open, we think we have a good shot at winning at a major tournament! Meanwhile, I’m hoping to attract some potential sponsors for the trip and also future ones the rest of the year. I miss getting free clothes an shoes from UCLA now!!!. I really hope I can perform well with these opportunities open for me because this pro career is after all the chance of a lifetime!
UCLA
Ask Bill: Here Comes Taylor Dent
It is great to see Taylor Dent taking his first steps on the comeback trail. He entered $50,000 Challengers in Carson, Calif., last week (losing in three sets to former NCAA champion Cecil Mamiit) and will play Yuba City, Calif., next week. TD is a net-rushing Californian who has been sidetracked for over two years with a career-threatening back injury. In fact, his situation seemed so dire that he began a career as an on-court teaching professional.
Dent applied for, and easily passed, the U.S. Professional Tennis Association certification (his level: Professional 1). The fact that a young man in his mid-twenties who had won four ATP Tour titles would go through the studying, preparation, and two-day certification course along with other aspiring coaches says much about his character. He does not have a sense of entitlement.
I had pegged Taylor Dent to be the best prospect among his American generation, which includes Andy Roddick, James Blake, Mardy Fish, and Robby Ginepri. If Wimbledon had not slowed the grass courts down after the 2001 tournament (and, make no mistake, that formerly slick and uneven surface has played like a high-bouncing, slow hard court ever since) and the Slazenger balls that are currently used do not play like soft melons (and getting seemingly softer every year) then Dent probably would have already had some deep runs at SW19. Along with their penchant for excellence in old-school volleys, he could share this lament with Britain’s Tim Henman as well.
It would be wonderful to see him make a full recovery. If his back can handle the stresses of today’s game, then his mind certainly can. After the injury ordeal that he has been through, facing break points in a third set will not seem nearly as daunting.
My favorite Taylor Dent story was from when he did an appearance for a U.S. Open sponsor during his injury respite. At the time, he could do anything except serve. He participated in a Pro-Am and was the first to arrive and the last to leave. Suffice to say that usually the “pros” in the Pro-Ams do not share this same enthusiasm. He was definitely the star of the day, and left the amateur participants feeling great.
Early in the day, Dent warmed up with one of the summer staff teaching professionals at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and their hitting session drew a small crowd of curiosity seekers. When he was done with his hit, a few of the teaching pros challenged him to try hitting a ball into Arthur Ashe stadium from the outside. To reach the upper deck of the massive stadium, it was probably 250 feet high and 100 feet away from the practice court where he was standing. A few of the teaching pros made attempts first, and failed miserably. Dent was amused. From the middle of court 5, he took a ball and with a smooth swing he generated enough force to loft the ball into the stadium. People looked surprised and gave him the ‘try that again’ look. He took another ball and did it again, perhaps even more easily. He smiled and walked away. There are onlookers from that day who still talk about that feat.
Sam Querrey is training with Gil Reyes, the long-time fitness guru for Andre Agassi. Sudden Sam is already moving better. This is a great career move for a determined American athlete. Querrey’s volleys remain suspect, but the grass courts of Wimbledon have been slowed sufficiently that this weakness will not be as pronounced. He will be a big factor at Wimbledon this summer.
If the US whips Spain on clay in the Davis Cup semifinals, will the media stop with the Americans Cannot Play On Clay theme? They will be underdogs, but it could happen. Every potential member of Captain Patrick McEnroe’s team – including potential members of the practice squad – has had some positive results on this “foreign” surface this spring.
Serena Williams looks fit, for what it’s worth. Aside from maybe her sister Venus, there has never been another player who gives her opponent so little say in the matter. If Serena is playing well, then she wins. It is as simple as that.
Lefty Wayne Odesnik beating Argentine Guillermo Canas in straight sets at Roland Garros was pretty damn impressive. Recall that Canas bullied Federer twice last year on American hard courts. As John McEnroe quipped, Americans are not supposed to dominate Argentines on clay.
In college tennis, it was a great week in the NCAA team tournament for UCLA and Georgia. It is also a dreadful time at Arizona State and Arkansas-Little Rock.
The coverage of the NCAA team tourney on ESPN-U was a welcome sight. The good people of Tulsa, Oklahoma were treated to a special week of team tennis, with the individual singles and doubles tournaments following the team competitions.
Firstly, the good news: Congratulations to coach Stella Sampras Webster, who led the UCLA Lady Bruins to their first-ever NCAA title with a decisive victory over Pac-10 rival California in the finals. Stella’s little brother Pete, a big supporter of the UCLA team, knows more about tennis championships than anyone and he must be so proud of his sister.
Manuel Diaz led his University of Georgia men to their second straight NCAA title. The Bulldogs are the first team to go back-to-back in a decade, and this is the first title UGA has garnered outside of Athens, Ga. Georgia has now won six titles, with Diaz at the helm for four of those. They defeated a game Texas Longhorns squad in a nail-biter of a match.
Sadly, that very same Pac-10 conference that produced the two women’s finalists has suffered the loss of the Arizona State men’s program. ASU announced that it was being cut for budgetary reasons. Also getting unceremoniously dumped was the University of Arkansas-Little Rock men’s program. This really, really sucks.
People lament the fact that foreign-born players are dominating collegiate tennis in this era. Well, maybe. I agree that this is an issue, and I will address it later. It is a secondary issue, however, to the number of programs (especially men’s teams) that are getting euthanized.
These cuts are having a dramatic and negative effect on the number of young children who are getting steered toward competitive tennis. This is understandable. If you are an American parent with an athletic child, or athletic children, and you are choosing a sport that might lead to someday getting financial assistance- or even a scholarship- in college, then tennis is looking like an increasingly crappy option.
Title IX has been brilliant, in so many ways, for young women. It was not (never, ever) created to deny young men equal opportunities.
The colleges and universities that have been dropping tennis programs has become epidemic. The arrogance of athletic directors who justify their decisions by stating that it is based on budgetary concerns is insulting. Lousy football teams cost millions of dollars per season. This bounty includes a massive number of scholarships, remuneration packages for head coaches that are out of proportion with reality, constant stadium and facility upgrades, etc. It is sickening. Collegiate tennis programs cost a mere fraction of the other sports.
This Is How We Roll In Los Angeles
Everyone from Nike to SFX was buzzing about the special kit adidas made up for the ladies of UCLA at the NCAA team tournament.
The company took Competition 4 tanks from their winter line and slapped the university’s logo on ‘em. As far as we know, UCLA/adidas were the only ones who went custom for the event.