Tennis in Albuquerque is an adjustment — even for the pros
An event like the Coleman Vision Tennis Championship doesn’t make it to a 20th anniversary by good fortune alone.
While the tournament has served as a launching point for its share of stars — 2017 U.S. Open winner Sloane Stephens being the most recent example — it also keeps players coming back. Count Aleksandra Wozniack, a Montreal-based player with Polish roots, among those who have frequented the Coleman Vision over the years.
Wozniack, who will play Italy’s Cristiana Ferrando in the main singles draw today at Tanoan Country Club at 2:30 p.m., first came to Albuquerque a couple years after turning professional in 2005, and she now has been back four times.
“It’s really great people, and so nice. They’re always willing to help the players that come from all around the world,” Wozniack said Tuesday. “They always organize with all the sponsors. And I think sometimes you have to come a bit earlier, when there’s conditions with high
altitude.”
In addition to the Land of Enchantment’s notorious elevation, wind made its first prominent appearance on Tuesday. Considering that it was the Coleman Vision’s longest day of the tournament, with qualifying singles play concluding and the main draw for both singles and doubles beginning, there were a lot of players who had to adjust to the elements. Additionally, the balls used at the Coleman Vision are specially designed for the high altitude, so they behave a little bit differently.
“They’re depressurized. They feel so light, and they go up high,” Wozniack said. “You get higher balls than usual.”
Wozniack is no stranger to Albuquerque weather, and she says she’ll arrive five days ahead of time to adjust to the altitude and conditions. Although, she says, that’s part of life as a professional tennis player in general.
“I think you learn in your career how much time you need at different tournaments,” she said. “I think I always like to come earlier; that’s at every tournament when I can. Unless you keep winning, then you come last minute. Our lives as a tennis player, it’s all about adjusting — the jet lag, different surfaces, altitude and all that.”
Easing the adjustment period in the Duke City are the families that provide lodging for the players who travel to the Coleman Vision from out of town and overseas. Wozniack, for example, is staying with longtime La Cueva boys’ tennis coach Dick Johnson and his wife.
“I used to play a lot too, and I know what it’s like to travel and I know the expenses in involved,” Johnson said. “Housing really helps a lot of the players. I know I’m indebted to people in many countries a few years back that I stayed with. I like to give back.”
Notes
Of the 37 officials working the Coleman Vision Championships, 22 were on hand for the U.S. Open earlier this month in New York City.
“It speaks to the quality of the tournament getting them,” tournament media aide Cee Ann Vaughan said. “(A lot of them) like the scenery, atmosphere and the way the tournament’s run.”
On Tuesday, the crowd at Tanoan had a little bit younger vibe thanks to Elementary School Kid’s Day. More than 300 children from metro-area schools were bused to the Coleman Vision so they could watch matches and participate in skill drills with touring and local pros. There will be another Kid’s Day on Thursday.