Alessia Girardin '18 Recruiting Profile

Starting tennis at age 5 I consider myself well acquainted to the sport. I would always voluntarily want to play just for the fun of it. I grew more aware of its inherent competitiveness as the years went on. At 10 years old, I became more serious about tennis by playing USTA tournaments. I was not only new to the idea of a match, but to the idea of losing one. As that may have brought me down, I never grew tired of the sport. Instead, I saw it as a challenge to do better.

There was a spark of drive in me when i was involved in a camp at IMG Bolleteri Academy one summer. I was only ten years old, but i managed to survive a week of torture at this prestigious camp in Florida. I definetely learned to fight through the pain because i dreaded practice. After this, hitting the ball back in Chicago seemed like a walk in the park. This lead me to more involvement in tournaments in the following years.

I also became more encouraged when I started winning trophies at 10, 12, and 15 years old. I was always runner-up, but this always brought much enthusiasm in me to do more of it. I soon became quite the tennis enthusiast and began playing at East Bank Club, and Lake Shore Sports and Fitness in Chicago. My efforts lead me to winning a College Park East Tournament which was a highlight. Due to my great ability, tennis was always an opportunity for me to excel physically and mentally. Tennis has been, and always will be part of my identity. I hope to be the ideal candidate for your team.