Kaitlyn Christian, the OC Registers 2008 Tennis Player of the Year, is no stranger to the tennis world since she has started playing tennis tournaments at the age of eight. Kaitlyn has been a part of MPTA since 2002, and she could be seen nearly every day at Matchpoint until she was picked up by USTA's High Performance Program which is dedicated to the elite players of the county. Over all the years she has won numeros award from the academy including "Player of the Year" for the past two years. She is selected as our first MPTA's "Player of the Month" because she embodies the Academy's philosophy of hard work, and dedication along with passion for the sport. During her most recent practice at Matchpoint we had a chance to talk to her about the upcoming year.
MPTA: Over the last year how have you stepped up your game into becoming a ranked top 600 player?
K: I been training a lot with USTA and one of the most important things was starting going to the gym four times a week doing weights and that has contributed towards my improvement.
MPTA: What kind of gym work do you do?
K: Four times a week I lift weights and do agility everyday with track or bike sprints. Once a week I have a recovery day where I do yoga and some stretching.
MPTA: Who has been your favorite person to play doubles with?
K: Lindsey Nelson has been my doubles partner during your last couple of games, we won a 10k in the summer. She compliments my game very well, is a hard hitter and sets up my net game and is fun to be around.
MPTA: What is your typical pre-game ritual?
K: I like to listen to techno on my ipod and call my dad or coach. I take 20 minutes to be alone and tune out everything. To get energy I eat a lot, either a power bar, cereal or a bagel.
MPTA: What is the weirdest thing that has ever happened during a game?
K: When I was ten, I was playing a game and my opponent hit a lob and my foot got stuck in the fence. I was stuck in the fence so I unlaced my shoe and went on to win the point with only one shoe on. |
