Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, Anne Yelsey: First-class freshman

Barry Faulkner

Though her tennis resume includes repeated top-10 finishes in

national junior tournaments, Anne Yelsey entered Corona del Mar High this

fall as an unproven freshman.

So, while her on-court repertoire includes the type of shot-making skills

coaches covet, intimidation was also expected to be part of the picture

every time she unzipped her racquet cover.

A little more than one week and six set victories into her career,

however, it has become clear that fear of the competition already resides

on the opposite side of the net.

“I’ve always been competitive, I love winning and I can’t stand losing,”

Yelsey said. “I’m going against older players now and, for some people,

that might be intimidating. But my coaches and my parents have taught me

never to be intimidated.”

They taught her well.

“She’ll go toe-to-toe with anyone,” said first-year CdM Coach and Costa

Mesa Tennis Center instructor Andy Stewart, who has hit with Yelsey for

years.

“I’ve been looking forward to playing older girls,” said Yelsey, who just

turned 14. “I get to play them now, but they kind of have to play me.”

Woodbridge High veteran Susanna Lingman, the reigning Sea View League

singles champion, could attest to Yelsey’s arrival onto the prep scene,

after Yelsey rallied from a 5-2 deficit to win their set, 7-6 (7-5 in the

tiebreaker), to help the Sea Kings defeat their former Sea View League

rivals on games Sept. 9. Yelsey also dispatched her other two Woodbridge

foes, 6-0, 6-0, to earn Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week recognition.

She swept three matches against Dana Hills Tuesday, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Don’t be fooled by Yelsey’s confidence. For, though clearly capable --

she is ranked No. 8 nationally in the 14s after finishing fifth in

singles at the claycourt and hardcourt nationals (third in doubles at

hardcourts) last summer -- she is anything but cocky.

“I would really like to turn pro and be a top pro player, but it takes so

much hard work,” she said.

Yelsey has worked hard on her game since age 7 and is currently tutored

by Phil Dent, a former Australian Open doubles champion.

The result is a polished all-around game, keyed by an unusually strong

net presence.

“She’s mostly a baseliner, but she is very good at attacking the net and

her volleys are the best in her age group,” Stewart said. “She’s not

super powerful, but she can hit winners, she’s real smart and tenacious

and she never quits. She has all the shots, but volleying is what sets

her apart. She has great hands and a great feel. When she comes to the

net, she’s always a threat to win the point.”

Yelsey said Dent’s successful doubles background has been the genesis of

her vicious volleys.

“Phil was a really good doubles player and he just really likes to

volley,” Yelsey said. “So, whenever we have 10 minutes left in a lesson,

we just volley.”

Yelsey was forced to make a more dramatic return, however, when a back

problem sidelined her for eight months (September to May).

“I thought it was a muscle pull, at first, but it was later diagnosed as

a stress fracture in my lower right back,” Yelsey said. “For four months,

I couldn’t hit at all, then it took me more than three months to get back

into tournament mode. When I was out, I had almost nothing to do with my

time, so I was basically annoying everyone (at home).”

Yelsey can now, as she has already shown, concentrate on being a nuisance

to anyone on the Sea Kings’ schedule.