Rodgers builds on professional experience at Syracuse

For most athletes, college is a stop on the way to an occupation outside of professional sports.

That isn’t the case for youth tennis star Amanda Rodgers.

Rodgers didn’t have to wait until graduation to hit the professional circuit. The sophomore has been playing professionally since before coming to Syracuse.

She and her former hitting coach Ellis Ferreira reached the semifinals of the mixed doubles National Playoffs. A title would have given them a spot in the U.S. Open main draw.

“I actually played two (junior) tournaments before I even talked to coach [Luke] Jensen about coming to Syracuse,” Rodgers said. “Once I got the call from him, he told me to drop the whole juniors thing and come straight to the pros.”

Rodgers has known she’s wanted to be a professional tennis player since seeing Andre Agassi compete in the U.S. Open when she was 10 years old. When she was a sophomore in high school living in Middleburg, Va., she convinced her parents to move to Florida so she could train and attend school at the elite Saddlebrook Prep.

“It was really hard for me to find people to practice with in Virginia,” Rodgers said. “So I keep seeing these ads for Saddlebrook. I was like, ‘Mom, we should just go to Saddlebrook.’”

Rodgers was one of just a few girls that attended the prep school. Rodgers said that it being a small institution helped her transition and make friends, but it also helped give her an edge.

“It was so competitive because everyone wanted to be the best,” Rodgers said. “That really helped me in coming here and wanting to go pro.”

In her freshman season at Syracuse, Rodgers led the team with an 18-2 singles record. She played her first match, a 6-4, 7-5 singles win, at South Florida, just a 20-minute drive from Saddlebrook Prep.

She said she chose to play for the Orange because Syracuse is one of the few tennis programs that prioritizes having its athletes play professionally.

“This is really the only program in the country that allows us to travel as a team to pro tournaments,” Rodgers said. “During the fall we only play pro tournaments. We don’t play college tournaments.”

Associate head coach Shelley George agrees that a program like Syracuse is a good fit for athletes hoping to play professionally someday.

“She wants to be a professional tennis player,” George said. “We use the college pathway to let these girls take their game as far as they can go and work on becoming a professional athlete while they’re getting their college education.”

Rodgers has stumbled a bit in 2013, starting off the season just 3-3. Rodgers attributes this to the fact that the coaches have used her to play higher up in the singles circuit.

Even with a less dominant record, George has nothing but bright things to say about Rodgers’ future.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that she (will) be a professional tennis player,” George said. “And along with that, she’ll have a degree from Syracuse University. She’s in a win-win situation all the way around.”