The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Top junior Osuigwe lends a helping hand at clinic
NEW HAVEN — When she started playing tennis, Whitney Osuigwe wasn’t much younger than the more than 400 third-graders gathered at the Connecticut Tennis Center on Wednesday morning.
Of course, she often played while wearing a Cinderella dress and booties when she started.
“I was like, ‘I’m the queen of the court,’” she recalled, with a laugh.
Now, Osuigwe isn’t a whole lot older than the kids she helped during Wednesday’s free youth tennis clinic. Only she’s come a long way from Cinderella dresses and booties.
Osuigwe, 16, currently sports the title of No. 1ranked junior in the world and reigning French Open junior champion. She recently played in her first WTA event, reaching the quarterfinals at the Miami Open, and has accepted an invitation as a wild-card entrant into the qualifying round of this year’s Connecticut Open, which will be held Aug. 17-25.
“It’s like a dream,” Osuigwe said, shortly before helping out thirdgraders from New Haven public schools at stadium court and other courts throughout the Connecticut Tennis Center. “I’m really excited I’m taking advantages of all the opportunities I’ve had.”
Osuigwe first picked up a racket when she was 3 years old and her father, Desmond, was a coach at the IMG Academy. She started playing on an every-
day basis at age 6, ultimately choosing tennis over ballet, basketball and T-ball as the sport she loved the most. She looked up to players such as Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams and dreamed she could someday be like them.
“I could be myself on the court,” she said. “I’m a very independent person, so tennis allows me to be that way.”
At 12, she won the Orange Bowl, an international event, and became serious about making tennis a career. Still, events like Wednesday’s clinic — her first as a professional — are just as meaningful.
“Especially these kids,” she pointed out, “because they don’t have all the opportunities that people like me and other kids have had when we were younger. So, the fact that we can introduce them to the game, and I can take part in it so tennis can be something bigger than just myself, it’s really an amazing thing to do. I’m so happy that New Haven tennis is doing this for them. It’s pretty special.”
“It’s a joy for us to have her here,” tournament director Anne Worcester said. “We like to identify the stars of tomorrow.”
Worcester, New Haven Mayor Toni Harp and Schools Supt. Dr. Carol Birks and Oguikwe each briefly addressed the kids before the clinic began. Asked what life advice Oguikwe could give them, she responded: “You can do anything that you set your mind to. Don’t let anybody tell you different.”