Following an Open-Minded Road to Tennis Success

You'd never expect her to be capable of playing a power tennis game. The diminutive five footer, with large, dark eyes and girlish bangs, hardly looks like she possesses a crosscourt forehand that could intimidate Attila the Hun. But it you don't believe Betsy Richmond can rip her groundstrokes, try standing across the net from her sometime. It's frightening.

The freshman tennis star, who has captured the fancy of college racquet observers, has wasted no time in proving herself a dominant figure in New England collegiate circles. Cruising through a fall season with an undefeated record, the Greater Boston title, the Massachusetts State title and the New England title, Richmond made her opponents stand up and take notice.

But the remarkable story begins ten years ago, when Richmond was a bit shorter and less well-known.

When Harvard was embroiled in student strikes and building takeovers, a seven-year-old Newton resident started playing tennis with a racquet that had to be cut down to a size small enough for her to handle. While her teenage sister took tennis lessons, Betsy watched, sneeking in a quick volley or two at the end of each instruction hour.

"My dad would hit with me sometimes, but on the same side of the net," she recalls. "I was so small I couldn't see over the net."

The early introduction to the game gave Richmond a foundation on which to build. Without pushy "tennis parents" to force her into tournaments and hours of lessons the aspiring tennis star was left on her own.

"I was self-motivated," she says. "My parents had second thoughts about my involvement sometimes--and so did I. But the positive always outweighed the negative."

And so the teenage years progressed--in typical enough fashion. Like all young competitive players, Richmond entered the tournament circuit with the New England Lawn Tennis Association (NELTA) and USLTA. Hours of practice, lessons and sacrifice led to rankings, recognition and success.

As the top 12-and-under player in New England, Richmond moved to No. 2 status in the 14-and-under bracket. She also broke into the top 35 nationwide. The laurels kept rolling in, mixed with occasional highlights.

As the No. 1 player for Newton South High School in her sophomore and junior years, Richmond led the team to consecutive state titles. Meanwhile, she continued on the tournament circuit.

Two years ago, Richmond won the right to represent Massachusetts in the 16-and-under bracket of the Seventeen Tournament of Champions. She traveled to Mission Viejo, Calif., only to meet Tracey Austin in the first round. Needless to say, Austin ran off with the win. But as Richmond says, "There were so many people and T.V. cameras there--my main concern was just not to trip and fall on the tennis court."--She didn't.

After from high school a half-year early, Richmond played the Southern Circuit--the women's No. 3 professional level--for four months. With moderate success she traveled to such tennis hotspots as Mobile, Ala. But she grew disenchanted with the circuit and left it before the summer.

"I found the people very single-minded. I saw what it would've taken to have made a living at it, and I just decided it wasn't worth it," she explains. "It was just a little bit lonely."

Richmond decided not to turn pro at age 17, and she returned home with her sights set on Harvard--and college tennis.

When the high-powered freshman arrived in Cambridge and rapidly commandeered the top spot on the Harvard team, resistance accompanied her ascent.

"I was a member of the team right away, but I wasn't a part of it," Richmond says, "It was a while before I was accepted."

The resistance made her entrance into collegiate tennis somewhat uncomfortable. Richmond says she felt left on the periphery of the Harvard unit--one that had its share of internal conflicts aside from the friction accompanying Richmond's entrance.

But since this spring's southern trip, Richmond says she has felt much more a part of the team.

With an interest in creative writing, especially poetry, and the hopes of someday finding a career in animal behavior study, Richmond has weathered the tennis bug without being consumed by the sport. She still admits to harboring the childhood dream of someday becoming a big tennis star, but she has accomplished many goals so far without losing her open mind.

"Tennis will always be more than just a hobby to me," she says. "But it's inperspective now. Your perspective can get very narrow in junior tennis--the game becomes a means of self-acceptance. You can definitely get caught up in a very small world."

Betsy Richmond has avoided such confinement.