![]() I really enjoy the team environment,” she said.Ĭome the postseason, she’ll be a prohibitive favorite. “It’s more for the environment, being with the other girls, making new friends with the other girls coming on the team. She contemplated not playing high school tennis this year to focus on improving her game, but decided to play again for the Falcons. “I feel I’m too young to think about that right now,” she said. A professional tennis career hasn’t crossed her mind. Her goal is to play in college, ideally at Stanford. “I just learned that I can hang with the college players,” she said. She won two qualifying-round matches, beating one former All-American and was competitive against the other All-American. To push herself against better competition, Ahn played four low-level pro tournaments from May to June, primarily facing college players, two of whom had earned All-American recognition. “It also helps me off the court be a more independent person.” “I can think for myself on the court,” she said. Sitting outside a Starbucks last week on the first day of school, Ahn said what draws her to tennis is its individuality. She’s hardly glued to the baseline though, as evidenced by finishing fourth in doubles at the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16 National Championship Adamson said where Ahn can most improve is putting more pop into her serve and becoming more comfortable coming to the net. She says she doesn’t have a favorite shot, but her forehand is her biggest weapon. She’s a pleasure to coach.”Īs for her playing style, Ahn pounds away from the baseline. “She never whines, never throws her racket. That increased musculature comes from three-times-a-week weight-resistance training. “Her fitness is impeccable, amazing would be a better word for it,” said Adamson. She doesn’t know if her weight has changed but she’s noticeably more muscular, particularly in the legs. Those who saw Ahn dismantle Barksdale, then a senior, 6-2, 6-2 in last year’s section singles final and haven’t seen her since then might do a double take when watching her play now. “She could have been a track athlete easily.” “It’s just her speed, balance, body control,” said Brown. He said Ahn is one of the most athletic tennis players he has ever watched. Her mental toughness is what sets her apart.”Ĭanyon Crest Academy’s Kevin Brown has been coaching tennis for 35 years. Said Adamson, “Her biggest asset is her is how composed she can be on the court. In the second set, Ahn kept more balls in play and in the end she wore down Hamilton, winning 2-6, 7-6 (4). Said Steve Adamson, Ahn’s personal coach, “Alanis was just playing lights-out tennis.”ĭon Chu, Ahn’s Torrey Pines coach, said Alyssa was going for too many winners in the first set. In the quarters, Alanis Hamilton of Arkansas, who came in with a higher ranking, dominated the first set, 6-2. In the Girls 16s National Championships, a 256-player draw, Ahn dropped the first set in her quarterfinal and semifinal matches. To those in the know, the key to Ahn’s success centers around four factors: that competitiveness, her mental toughness, her athleticism and fitness. She stands 5 feet 3 and weighs 105 pounds. ![]() 1 in her age group in Southern California.Īhn is an example of good things coming in small packages. She was soon competing in tournaments and by 10 was ranked No. Instead, one of Michael’s friends gave Alyssa her first lessons at 7. “I never wanted to be that person,” he said of the overbearing coach/parent. He hoped Alyssa would enjoy the game but didn’t want to coach her. She tries to get to everything and really hangs in there.”Īhn’s father, Michael, played collegiately at the Air Force Academy. “It’s hard to teach a child or a young person to be competitive. “What I like best about her is that she’s so competitive,” said King, arguably the most influential person ever in women’s tennis. King was sitting behind a baseline and treated to an up-close view of Ahn’s dominating 6-2, 6-3 win over New York’s Christasha McNeil in the Girls’ 16s National Championship. Open Junior Championships, her reward for winning the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s National Championship nine days ago at the Barnes Tennis Center. 1, Ahn leaves for New York to compete in the U.S. But in the short term, the answer is coming in hard and fast like one of Ahn’s blistering flat forehands: the Carmel Valley teenager is scary good. When then 14-year-old Torrey Pines freshman Alyssa Ahn knocked off two-time reigning champion Kaila Barksdale to win the San Diego Section singles championship last November, a question hung on tip of local tennis fans’ tongues.
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