Category: Story

June 19, 2025

“My grandmother gave me my first racquet when I was four years old. I remember it was a blue Wilson. I’d play with my dad back when we lived in Argentina, where I was born, and it stuck when we moved to Italy. I realized tennis could be a serious thing when I played in the World Cup under 10 in Croatia. It’s a really special tournament for young players, and after competing I thought maybe I could give professional tennis a try. My dad is my coach to this day, and it’s really important to me because I’ve practiced all my life with him. We have a great relationship, and I hope it continues to stay that way. He’s 60 now, so he doesn’t travel a  lot, but he tries to go to the big tournaments that we’ve dreamed about me playing all my life. Sometimes it’s hard separating my relationship with him. We used to fight more, but I think around age 15, I started to understand that he wants to help me. He wants the best for me. When that became clear, I started to feel better with him on the court. Outside of the court, we’re (more…)

June 12, 2025

“I fell in love with tennis at first sight. My mom is a tennis coach, so I didn’t have much of a choice in starting. But once I started, I just kept going and going, and now, here I am. Definitely, there have been moments when I’ve wanted to give up tennis. Around maybe 13 or 14, I remember I went to my coach, and I told her, “Maybe tennis isn’t my thing. I’m not winning anything. Maybe I should stop and find another thing.” She told me to give it one last chance and, of course, I did. And I’m so grateful for her advice. My family wanted me to go to college in the States because my brother did the same thing — he’s a swimmer. They wanted us to be close to each other. But I wanted to give the pros a try. Just a chance, rather than looking back and regretting the decision. It’s a very tough time transitioning from juniors to the pros. Having the right people around you is beyond important to help you achieve your goals, and I’m lucky to have those people. My team believes in me.  The moment where I really (more…)

June 4, 2025

“I wouldn’t say I started playing tennis because there was a natural love for it. It was more so that I’m very competitive with my sister, and I wanted to beat her when we played. That dynamic continued until she stopped. Growing up, I got to live in a lot of countries, and I appreciate the moves because I got a little bit of everything from each place. I think, in that way, I’m able to have an open mind, open eyes, and get to connect with so many people. Growing up, my mom was constantly focused on me finishing my exams and getting my degree. She didn’t mind me playing pro, as long as I went to school. College tennis helped me on the court, but also immensely outside of the court. At school, you’re able to learn who you are and how to function with other people just in a day-to-day setting. It was those kinds of little things that really, I had to learn over time. Being able to study my major was really great, too. I’ve always been very curious, so I majored in international relations on the environmental science and technology track. Being pro now, (more…)

May 29, 2025

“My first memory of playing tennis was actually the first shot I ever hit. I remember what came before that and what came after that. My parents were playing at a park, and I had brought all my sketchbooks. I got bored and asked my dad if I could borrow his racket. I hit the ball and I was addicted after that. I did lots of activities as a kid, but tennis always dominated. There are so many different aspects to why I loved it. You have to be fit, physically and mentally. You’re also able to be creative on the court. There’s just so many sides to the game, and I was obsessed with that. You’re never done learning. In my consciousness, I think there was a moment when I was 16 when I realized I could play tennis professionally. But if you ask people in my life that have known me since I was five or six, they say I knew when I was 10, because I told them my goals and my goals were very tennis oriented. I think it’s earlier than I remember, but by 16 I knew I wanted to be a pro player. Moving (more…)

May 22, 2025

“I moved to the US when I was around 13, 14 years old. Honestly, I was just excited to leave home and pursue the opportunity to play tennis. I played a lot in Europe, but had never been to the States, so I was like, ‘You know what? This is perfect.” Looking back, the only thing I obviously regret is leaving behind friends. I lost a lot of those connections over time, and making new friends as you get older is tough. But I moved to Florida with my aunt, who’s a psychologist, and it helped me get through the tough moments that came with such a big move. Some of the best advice she gave me was, “You know you’re here for a reason. Keep working, and something will happen.” There’s lots of hard times in tennis, especially when you’re not doing well. If you’re not good, the industry will just move onto the next one. There’s no care at all in the world for you. During my pro career, I’ve been lucky enough to move up quickly, but the transition from being a junior was hard. Adjusting to the level that these guys play at was difficult. Everyone (more…)

May 16, 2025

“Tennis didn’t run in my family. No sport really did – my parents are both electrical engineers. It was a bit…out of coincidence. There was a push into both academics and sports from my family, but there was a strong push from my dad on sport. Initially, there was actually a lot of resistance from my end in terms of going fully into tennis. Once I finished high school, I went overseas and the emotions of my journey really hit me. I was 17 when I moved. Having it be my first time without my friends, my family…I struggled. During that time, I was enrolled in the University of Sydney, but deferred for two years.Before I went to Spain, though, my eventual college coach approached me and wanted me to come to Illinois. That’s when I started leaning towards the US college path. In the back of my mind, I still wanted to make it pro. Some people around me weren’t sure about the idea of college, but I was pretty committed to it. I came up with this formula in my head on the likelihood of making it pro after going to college, and wanted to prove it right (more…)

May 8, 2025

“My brother and I would play with balloons, setting up the couch as a net, and just smack it back and forth. Then every Sunday night, my mom and I would play against my brother and dad – a little mixed doubles action. From there, I just fell in love with the game. My brother playing in college and my mom being a tennis pro, I always grew up in the tennis environment. I just had great role models to look up to, and I’m really lucky to have them. When you break the top 100 as a tennis player, I think that’s a huge goal that everyone has. When you do it, it’s this huge weight lifted off your back. When that happened for me, it was a huge milestone. From there, I was into so many more WTA main draws and had more opportunities. I think comparison is the thief of joy, in tennis and in life. It’s super hard, because we’re out here, seeing the same players every week. It’s natural to compare, but I think the biggest thing is to just focus on your journey. What are your goals? What are you trying to work on (more…)

April 30, 2025

“My dad’s a tennis coach, and I have an older brother and sister who played a bit. They were both very athletic, but whenever they were on the tennis court, I used to go pick up balls for them. I was just eager to get out there. My whole family’s from Japan and moved over before I was born. I was born in Sydney and Australia’s all I’ve ever known, but there were a lot of cultural things I learned. My mum and dad would cook Japanese food at home, and they tried to make sure I knew the language. I try to embrace the positives of both cultures, and it’s been a big part of my identity. I always felt like I had the level and potential to play professionally and do well. But my mum was pretty big on me going to college. She was worried about academics and making sure I had something to fall back on. For me, I knew a few years of getting good work under my belt would be good, too. UNC was the place for me. There’s no better place, and I learned so much there. Playing tennis at the pro level, (more…)

April 24, 2025

“Growing up, we had two tennis courts in front of our house. When I was a little kid, I remember watching all the other kids playing, so my parents signed me up for the tennis school. And from then, I loved it. I didn’t even try football, hockey – it was tennis or nothing for me. Since the beginning, I did quite well. It started with playing a couple of tournaments in the Czech Republic. Once I got to the point where I was playing in other countries, or starting to play internationally, I started to realize that I was doing pretty well, playing pretty well against the guys that were my age around the world. The transition from the juniors to the Futures was tough, though. When I started to play at a higher level, I quickly realized there are no free points. In the juniors, you can get away with a few mistakes from your opponent and take advantage of them being down mentally, but in the Futures, everyone is super focused. It helped me realize that the key to that next level is the mental element and your focus. Even though I’m only nineteen, I feel fortunate (more…)

April 17, 2025

“My first memory of playing tennis was playing a doubles tournament for kids and their moms. I have an older brother, so he played doubles with my mom and I played with my mom’s friend. I lost, but I still remember the moment. My brother wanted to go pro and my dad was a tennis player in Japan, so I said, “Okay, I want to do it too.” I think I was around 10 years old when I made that decision. There were definitely moments where I wanted to do other things. My dad was a very tough man. If we wanted to do something different, like playing soccer, baseball, those kinds of things, my dad would say, “No, you can’t do this. If you want to be a player, just play tennis.” So I did. Sometimes it was tough, but there were lots of moments that were enjoyable as well. Im remember playing the Junior French Open and after I lost, I called my mom and said, “I can’t do this anymore.” But it’s ups and downs. At the end of the day, even after losses, you still love tennis and that’s the reason I can stand here. Even (more…)