Talented teen takes charge on the court
Dawn Robertson remembers it well.
Sure, she's a bit embarrassed recalling the first time her daughter beat her on the tennis court, but she's equally as proud.
Surrounded by spectators watching the match, Erica Robertson set up, rushed the net, and sent a hard volley past her mother for match point.
"She drop-shotted me, that's how she got me," said Dawn Robertson. "She was 8 years old. . . . She was very cunning, even at that age. People who'd seen us at the courts before were all watching us, kind of stunned by her fierceness on the courts. That's when I knew I'd need someone who could take her talent and develop it beyond what I knew."
That's when she enlisted the help of coach Sidney Cooper of the Sportsmen's Tennis Club in Dorchester, who said it only took one conversation with Erica for him to see what she truly craved.
"I knew when Erica and her mom came to me she wanted to be a professional tennis player," said Cooper. "She was the only one who could recite old tennis players from the past, so you knew you had to take her seriously."
Erica Robertson was to move one step closer to her dream when she was scheduled to debut in her first professional tournament on Friday. She is slated to compete through next Sunday in the Citi US Pro Circuit 50K Women's Challenger Tournament, the final qualifier for the US Open.
The tournament is hosted by the Sportsmen's Club, where Robertson trains. The soon-to-be-senior at Buckingham Brown & Nichols school in Cambridge enters the tournament after recently capturing the Independent School League New England singles title and being named the ISL's Most Valuable Player following a 17-0 season.
Now 16, Robertson made her first national appearance at 10, competing in the US Tennis Association's summer Super Nationals. Since then, she has moved up the USTA ladder, coming into the Citi Pro US Circuit ranked No. 3 in the under-18 New England standings and No. 2 in the under-16 New England division.
"I didn't win a match that first [national] tournament," said Robertson. "But it was fun because I was doing things people weren't really expecting. Most people were playing the baseline, and I was trying to come in and volley. It's a different style, I guess, than they were expecting from a 10-year-old."
Cooper, also director of tennis for Sportsmen's, created a program for Robertson centered on basic strokes and lots of repetition; school days were sandwiched between morning and afternoon practices, while summer vacation meant full days on the courts. Hours spent serving, playing the baseline, volleying, and mastering the fundamentals of the game soon led Robertson to a top-10 ranking in the New England under-12 division.
The only child of Dawn, a math teacher, and Albert, a law professor, Erica also excelled in the classroom, making BB&N's honor roll the past three years.
"I want to go to a Division 1 college, I'm hoping somewhere warm so I can play year-round. I need it to have strong academics, too," said Robertson. "It'd be nice to play tennis all day, but I like to be balanced in five subjects and learn about other things than tennis."
She's hoping for a big home-crowd turnout at this week's competition.
"Playing this big tournament here [in Dorchester] brings it full circle," said Cooper, who lives in Watertown. "I heard her dream at 8 and worked with her for eight years. . . . She's come a long way from that little girl I met on Court 6."
