SAN DIEGO – Two ways to judge a person’s character: listen to what others say about them, and what they say about others. At just 18, tennis player Alyssa Ahn earns high praise from her coach Steve Adamson — and she returns it with equal parts gratitude and grace.
The Stanford-bound teen has been playing tennis ever since she watched her dad play in tournaments as a youngster and knew that she wanted to play, too. Dad obliged her by taking her out to hit, and she fell in love with the game. Watching dad play gave her the entry into the sport, but her own drive to improve has fed her success.
Ahn begins play tomorrow (Monday) at 10:00 am at Barnes Tennis Center to compete in the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18 National Championships. The No. 7 seed wants to win the tournament, and why not? She won the 16s in 2022 at age 15.
Whether it is practicing or academics, Ahn’s work ethic is apparent. While many of her tennis competitors opt to complete their high school studies online or through homeschooling, Ahn and her family made the decision to attend Torrey Pines High in San Diego, taking a challenging load of academic courses while maintaining an intensive practice schedule.
She recognized the tradeoffs: on the upside, she could see friends and family every day, take rigorous coursework, and live at home most of the year. The drawbacks? She had less time (if you call it that) to practice, and little time to travel for tournaments. And, to make time to practice during the school year, Ahn took courses over the summer so that she could leave school a little earlier than most students each day. She played tennis on her high school team during her freshman year of high school, but her rigorous training schedule made continuing to play for the school too challenging.
What did a “typical” school day look like for Ahn?
She would get out of school at 1:00 PM every day, grab lunch, do some homework, and then train for “only” (her term) two and a half to three hours each day. Then she would stay up late studying and doing homework. Ahn recognized that the schedule was not ideal, but that it was necessary because she wanted to prioritize her tennis and her academics.
“It is a really important priority to me just to make sure that I was prepared going into college,” said Ahn, reflecting on her decision.
Although her school schedule precluded her from playing in many tournaments, she was able to play a WTT W35* tournament in Arcadia, Calif. in March. There, she made it to the Round of 16, narrowly losing a three setter after two lopsided sets and a thrilling third, 6-0, 1-6, 7-5, to Iva Jovic, the 2024 USTA Billie Jean King 18s National Champion.
Since her high school graduation, she’s played in six tournaments in the SoCal Pro Series and has had good success. She made it to the finals in one and the semi-finals in three. And Ahn wants more. She has her sights set on winning this tournament while developing through each match.
“Alyssa is an amazing young woman and an absolute pleasure to coach,” said Adamson, who is also the Barnes Tennis Director. “Her physicality and mental toughness set her apart, and she’s had an incredible summer, excelling in the SoCal Pro Series tournaments. What makes her truly special is her ability to take in information during a match and immediately apply it—she’s coachable, focused, and fearless. I’m excited to see how she does at Hardcourt Nationals. She’s coming in with a lot of confidence and momentum.”
Always striving to improve, Ahn is currently focused on upping the aggressiveness of her serve while increasing her first-serve percentage, a tricky combination. She also wants to strengthen the pace of her forehand.
“I've been playing these tournaments (and) it's pretty apparent how strong these girls are,” said Ahn. “So it's important to have the necessary pace on the forehand, just to compete with them and be able to hang in rallies with them.”
When she’s not in a tournament, Ahn’s schedule is, of course, full of tennis, broken up with an occasional swim at the beach or time with Phoebe, her mini golden doodle.
During the summer, she plays from 9 am – 11:30 am at Barnes at the Steve Adamson Tennis Academy where many of San Diego’s top juniors train. In the afternoon, she either hits again for another hour and a half, or gets a lesson from Adamson.
“Steve really promotes being physical on the court,” said Ahn. “And he's helped me develop my physicality.”
Throughout the interview, Ahn expressed gratitude to Adamson, to Barnes Tennis Center, and to her father. When asked who inspires her: “I would say my dad. … He inspires me because he works really hard. And he sacrifices a lot to help me. He's always been super helpful for me. He strings my rackets, he prepares me for tournaments, and he's kind of like my manager. He's helped me a lot.”
Ahn also recognized the support that Barnes and Adamson have provided. “I've definitely been given many incredible opportunities, just being in San Diego and especially being at Barnes,” said Ahn. “They've given me a lot of opportunities. For example, I needed I needed a wild card to get into this hard-court tournament. The way they select the players is through USTA ranking which I don't really have since I've been playing other tournaments. But they've been really helpful and given me amazing opportunities. Also, they brought some WTA** tournaments to Barnes, and I actually got a wild card into those, too.”
Adamson, in turn, appreciates Ahn.
“I have no doubt she’ll continue to thrive, whether it’s in this upcoming tournament or when she steps onto the courts at Stanford,” said Adamson. “We will miss her dearly at the Academy but we are also excited to see her excel at the next level.”
At Stanford, Ahn would love to help the Cardinal win a national championship, a feat the storied program has accomplished 21 times, but not since 2019. After college, if the opportunity arises, she would love to turn pro.
Readers can cheer on Ahn tomorrow when she plays singles versus Daria Budko from Texas at 10:00 am at Barnes Tennis Center. At 6:00 pm, she plays doubles with Monika Ekstrand from Florida at Balboa Tennis Club.
The USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 16s and 18s Tournament is going on now through August 10. For schedules and results, see the USTA site. The event is free to attend.
Be sure to catch locals playing in the Girls’ 18s: No. 2 seed and worldwide highest-ranked 16-year old Julieta Pareja, No. 7 seed Stanford-bound Alyssa Ahn, Carley Chen, Sophie Lau, Kylie Liu, Anqi Mei, and Elena Zhao. Local Girls’ 16s players include Yilin Chen, Kiana Huerta, Juny Huh, Kiana Smith, and Lillian Xu.
*WTT: Women's International Tennis Federation World Tennis Tour; W35: level 35 means that the winner earns 35 points towards their ranking.
**Women’s Tennis Association