By Vania King and Jason Brown

Tennis Month: Vania King Interview

Since making her professional tour debut last July, American Vania King has gone on to win her first professional singles title at Bangkok and a pair of doubles titles. The native of Long Beach, California is currently ranked No. 84 in the world and recently represented her country in Fed Cup competition. Multi-talented, King also sang the National Anthem at the 2006 US Open and Delray Beach tournaments.

Joined by Fed Cup Captain Zina Garrison, King took part in a special NJTL kids’ tennis clinic in Oakland, California as part of the May celebration of Tennis Month.

USTA.com caught up with the precocious 18-year-old to discuss her burgeoning career, the importance of tennis in her life, and her experiences growing up playing on the public tennis courts of Southern California.

USTA.com: What does tennis mean to you?

Vania King: I think that tennis is a sport that you can play at all ages. It’s something that you can do competitively or just for fun. Anyone can pick it up and anyone can have fun with it.

USTA.com: Where did you grow up? Was there a local public tennis court that had special meaning to you?

Vania King: I practiced on the public courts in Long Beach, California. I basically went to every single public court that was in Long Beach. We sort of went to one court at one site and then a bigger one at another site, because we moved quite a bit. But there was a local high school that had public courts that we practiced on. My sisters and I would hit there, from morning to dusk. We’d play all sorts of kid’s games – I remember that most vividly.

USTA.com: Was there a specific person(s) that you credit for spiking your interest in playing tennis and motivating you?

Vania King: Well, definitely my Dad. He started me in tennis. But I guess that if it weren’t for my brother starting tennis, my Dad wouldn’t have had his girls pick it up. So, mostly my Dad, but also my brother who started playing tennis. He was 7 and ½ years older than me. I didn’t really play matches against my brother, but I would practice with him sometimes.

USTA.com: Was there an after-school program or a team that you played on after you learned some of the basics playing with your family?

Vania King: Actually, we didn’t do too much in the way of after-school activities or tennis clinics. I can’t remember that much, but I can remember that we never practiced on private property. It was always on public courts. We were out there for hours every day and basically all that we did was practice and have fun. We played local tournaments which led up to national tournaments, which for me, then progressed to juniors and professional events. That’s how it went.

USTA.com: Did you cross-train with other sports? Everyone knows that you are a musician, but were there other sports that also piqued your interest and helped balance out your life?

Vania King: Other sports weren’t a big part of my life. I swam a little bit and I liked to bike-ride. But most of my interests outside of tennis weren’t athletic – singing, sketching, drawing, writing, reading and playing video games.

USTA.com: Now as a professional tennis player, what is your training regiment like? Is it mostly cardio? Do you lift weights?

Vania King: I think every player is different. This is specific to me – I wouldn’t tell anyone else to do what I’m doing because I don’t have the same build and same game as most everyone. There are three aspects that are most important for tennis: Technical, Fitness and Mental.

Right now I’m emphasizing the most on the fitness. With my game and my height, I think that is what’s most important. I do a lot of endurance, quickness, and explosiveness training. Not too much strengthening and bulking up because I want to be really quick on the court and be able to move around well.

USTA.com: Over the years, from youth toward becoming an adult, why do you think that you’ve stuck with the sport? What is it about tennis that is so important to who you are?

Vania King: I’ve just always done it all my life and I’m really competitive and I love to win. I’m good at tennis and tennis suits my personality, which is to have fun and win.

USTA.com: Everyone talks about the importance of confidence on the tennis court. Have you taken the confidence that tennis builds within you on and off the court?

Vania King: Confidence is a two-edged sword. You have to win to have confidence, but if you’re not winning, how do you get confidence. I think, in life, what you do off the court is more important than what is on the court. Your personality and how you treat other people is more important that winning. So I think if you can balance your life off the court, then on the court you can have confidence and look forward to winning.

USTA.com: Here in the United States, kids have so many options available. There’s not one sport or thing to get interested in. What would you tell a young person about tennis that makes it special and different from all of the other sports and activities that they could get involved with?

Vania King: Well for girls, there’s Title IX, so you’ll get into college more easily. If you just introduce kids to tennis, they might just take it. You have to make it fun for them. If it’s not fun, then they won’t like it. Try to make it everything really fun, and then they’ll choose what they want to do.

USTA.com: For all of your success in singles, you’re very accomplished playing doubles. What is it about the doubles format that makes it so unique and fun and interesting?

Vania King: Tennis is such an individual sport. For me at least, it’s so much more relaxing and less pressure in the team environment with a partner. And in some ways, it’s harder than singles. I like to that in doubles, you either mask or enhance your strengths and weaknesses. So doubles is unique in itself. It’s just as competitive and tough to win as singles – which shots to play and which angles to hit at certain times. I’ve been lucky enough to play with partners that are much more experienced than me, and they’ve been teaching me well.

USTA.com: One of those partners recently was your Fed Cup teammate Lisa Raymond, the top-ranked doubles player in the world. What did you pick up from her?

Vania King: Lisa was sort of picking my brain! I don’t really know what to ask her. I’m not really experienced like she is. I just told her that whatever she sees, to just tell me what she wanted me to do. It’s just the little things that make the champions so good.

USTA.com: What do you think are some of the biggest challenges for young players trying to make it from the junior ranks to collegiate to possibly playing on the USTA Pro Circuit and professional tour?

Vania King: Just from a technical aspect, there are so many levels of improvement, from the juniors to progressing to futures and the WTA Tour. For each level, there are some technical aspects. Your opponents hit that much harder and that much more consistent. So it’s not easy moving up the levels. You just have to have commitment, the drive to do better, and not thinking so much about winning, but improving. Especially when you’re young, you should spend the most time on improving – technical, fitness and mental are the most important aspects. Technical should be done when you’re young. Don’t worry about losing. Once you get the technique down, you’ll get better. You might move one step back, but two steps forward. The mental and fitness work get much and more important as you get older and get to the top levels.

USTA.com: For a tennis-playing child, parental support is so important. Parents take all sorts of approaches to guiding their child. Some push their kids hard to succeed, while others are much more laid-back. What were your experiences growing up?

Vania King: It’s really tough being a tennis parent because you want your child to be their best and to win. There’s a very fine bar that has to be reached. My Dad was really intense and he really pushed me very hard. Sometimes I wondered if it was worth it, whether I was getting anything out of it. But he had a plan and it worked out. I guess what’s most important is for the tennis parent to have the utmost respect for their child, not only in tennis but in life, so that the kid keeps some perspective and doesn’t go too crazy.

USTA.com: The USTA is making a concerted effort to reach out and introduce the game of tennis to as many varied groups of people as possible. Do you think that the organization is doing a good job of bridging the gap and bringing tennis to people of all backgrounds?

Vania King: When I was growing up, I didn’t really have any connection to the USTA except that I played their tournaments. Basically all I did was practice with my Dad. Things like what I’m doing today (tennis clinics in the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Area), having professionals come out and talk to the kids, I think is really important. That’s what gets kids interested.

USTA.com: It’s been a few weeks since the United States Fed Cup Team defeated Belgium following your series-clinching match. Have you had time to reflect on what you and the team accomplished at Delray Beach?

Vania King: I was definitely the most surprised right after the (clinching) match, but even when I was playing, having the team supporting me and knowing that Venus Williams was going to play right after me, I knew all I had to do was try my best. But I’m just trying to keep things in perspective. I was happy that I won, but tennis isn’t a one tournament in a year thing. I’m focusing on the next couple of tournaments and to keep improving and working on my fitness.

USTA.com: A lot of tennis fans are curious how professionals can travel around the world, playing so many events, and be able to play at such a high level. How are you able cope with the hectic travel schedule?

Vania King: I can’t travel on the road that long. My max is usually about 4 weeks. If I go any longer than that, I get a little bit homesick. So not really physically tired, but more mentally tired. I think that most players feel the same way. The jetlag depends on every player. It usually takes a maximum of about 4 days for me to get over it.