Pro Tennis — Not Just a Man's Sport

Women have been playing professional tennis in some tournaments as early as 1946, competing both in singles and doubles matches. So women in professional tennis are not really anything new, however the ages of the female players seems to be. Females turning pro and winning their matches are becoming younger and younger. Its not an easy task to win and compete against more experienced older women, but every time a major tournament is played there are teen players volleying balls back and forth undaunted by their older opponents, and they are playing to win!

The rewards of winning or placing second in professional tennis matches are many — the prestige, the trophy, fans and fan clubs (many fans have set up web pages of their favorite players), the opportunity of product endorsements, travel, and six figure pay checks. Some of the down sides of becoming a professional terinis player are: long hours of practice, living a way from home, missing close relationships with family and friends, not being able to attend a regular school (many teen players have tutors or are homeschooled), and learning how to deal with the curious eye of the media.

The US Open, the French Open, The Davis Cup, Australian Open, All-England Champions at Wimbledon England, and the Swisscom Challenge are some of the most prestigious tournaments.

The following are highlights ofjust a few teen professionals of the 2Oth century:

• Tracy Austin, in 1977 at the age of 14 years and 28 days became the youngest winner of a pro tournament. In 1980, she ranked Number 1 in the world and was the youngest Number I ranked player in tennis history.
• Mary Jo Fernandez from the Dominican Republic, in 1985 at the age of 14, became the youngest player (male or female) to ever win a match at the US Open.
• In 1995, Anna Kournikova from Russia turned professional at 14 years old. And when she was 16, Kournikova became the 9th youngest player (since 1968) to defeat a number one ranking player.
• Martina Hingis from Switzerland at the age 15 was the youngest player to win a Grand Slam tournament.
• Serena Williams, in 1998 at the age of 17, "defeated 5 to 10 players faster than any player in history of women's tennis" at the Australian Open.
• Also in 1998, sister Venus Williams broke the women's tennis record for speed of a serve - it was recorded as 127 mph at the Swisscom Challenge in Switzerland.

Other notable female teen tennis players of the 2Oth century are Monica Seles, Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, and Alexandra Stevens.

* Reprinted from Positive Teens Magazine Volume 1 Issue 5, Sept/Oct 1999

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