USTA Missouri Valley hosts AAPI month kickoff event with Vania King

Thirteen elementary and middle school players took to the courts for the first half of the evening, taking up two courts. King both partook in and helped run various drills for the participants. While the younger players participated in skill-building drills and games, the older players worked on rallies and played games such as king of the court.

Between the youth and adult clinics, King sat down in the lounge area for a Q&A session with the players. She talked about her tennis background and what advice she’d give to young players.

“I came from a generation where my parents were very hard on me and had a lot of expectations,” King said. “There’s value in that—value and discipline in the hard work and the commitment. But I also think it’s very important to have fun. And so for the kids here, make sure that you have fun and try to balance both.”

King also spoke about the AAPI Tennis Foundation, which she co-founded alongside other inspiring Asian leaders in tennis. Notable members of the foundation include Jessica Pegula, Rajeev Ram and Dana Matthewson.

“We felt that it was important that our community has representation on a national level,” King said about why the group created the AAPI Tennis Foundation. “There are some other groups that have representation, but not just because of that. I think every diverse community deserves to be recognized, to be supported. There’s a lot that we give to the community. There’s a lot that we do to support each other. And I feel now that I’m retired and I have the time that it’s something really important that I want to undertake.”

To round out the evening, 16 adult players of various skill levels took to the courts with King to go through drills and games. All participants received a free shirt after their clinic provided by the AAPI Tennis Association.

Sydney Hamilton, USTA Heart of America digital assistant, contributed to this report.