Kristie Ahn’s Breakthrough Return to US Open is Over, But Her Career Isn’t

In 2009, Kristie Ahn was the top-ranked junior tennis player in the country. The New Jersey Monthly profiled her as “The Phenom,” writing that she was “poised to be a tennis power.” A lot of eyes were on the 16-year-old who had qualified for the main draw of the US Open. 

But it would be over a decade until she would play at the Open again.  

Ahn gained entry into this year’s Open as the women’s wild card, which means she accumulated the most rankings points in a series of summer tournaments. She won three times to reach the round of 16. That is the furthest a wild card winner, male or female, has advanced in the Open.  

Her “Cinderella run” at this year’s Open ended on Monday with a 6-1, 6-1 loss to No. 25 seed Elise Mertens. That doesn’t mean, however, that she hasn’t made history.

According to Tennis Now, the gap between Ahn’s first appearance and first win at a major establishes an Open Era record. She is also the first Asian American woman to make a Grand Slam round of 16 since 2000, The New York Post reported.

“This is why I play: to hopefully reach out to those Asian Americans,” Ahn told The New York Post. “We’re a small community, but a lot of our parents are immigrants so we feel the same way, had similar upbringings. [It shows] you can strive, you can have both: You can have the education, keep your parents happy, but also be able to have your own ambitions and go for it.”

Ahn, a Stanford graduate, wanted to go to pro after her first US Open. She told the New York Times that her parents insisted she attend college. Her father agreed to financially support her professional tennis career for three years after she graduated, but made it clear he’d prefer to see her with a more secure career. 

“I swear he had a calendar countdown,” Ahn said. “He’s like: ‘We’re almost there, end of 2017! Get ready to look for jobs! Do you have a résumé ready?’”

The $280,000 prize money she’s earned from this Open will likely make funding her career a little easier. According to Palo Alto Online, that represents approximately 67 percent of her year-to-date earnings. 

Currently ranked 141st, Ahn is projected to break into the top 100, which will make her eligible for more Women’s Tennis Association events. As the 27-year-old shared on her Twitter, her recognition seems to be going up. 

“I’d be lying if I said, like, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m so happy I didn’t find success right away,'” she told ESPN on Saturday after her first win. “But to be transparent with myself, as well, I don’t know if I ever would have gotten this far if this had happened at a different time in my life. I feel like I’ve had a lot of closure with myself in different scenarios.”

After winning her first match in this year’s Open, Ahn received a congratulatory message from Dinari Safina, the player who defeated her in the first round of the 2008 Open. 

She told WTA Tennis that she finally feels like she does not have to make comparisons to her 16-year-old self and can play free.

“My dad was like, ‘So, this is a bit of a problem. How are you gonna get into corporate America if you keep winning?’ He’s very keen on me hanging up the racquet and getting a 9-to-5 job, but I’m gonna try and milk this as long as I can,” Ahn said.

Ahn’s tennis dreams include scaling the rankings and defeating former champions as well as taking the opportunity to make change, The Guardian reports.

“The way I look at professional tennis is you have such a unique platform to reach kids, to reach other people,” she said. “People will actually want to listen to you, and they’ll put you on a pedestal. While I’m doing this, I want to make as much of a difference as I can.”

According to The Guardian, she rolled her eyes and added, “And when I’m done, I can sell my soul to the corporate world.”

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