Even though she was born in the United States of America and represents the country at the competitions where she has shone like a star that she is, Whitney Osuigwe has Nigerian blood flowing through her veins.
The 15-year-old teenager whose father, Desmond, is one of her coaches at the IMG Tennis Academy, Bradenton, Florida, is the reigning French Open champion having won the tournament earlier this year by defeating another American.
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| Whitney poses with her dad (right) and other members of the IMG Academy after her French Open feat. |
According to the recent ranking by the ITF, Whitney is currently the world’s number one junior female tennis player with a massive 1373 points, and is closely followed by Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk who has about 1333 points.
She may have lived almost all her life in the United States, but Whitney still can still trace her roots to Nigeria, where her father is originally from, hence the need to showcase her to fellow Nigerians to see how much progress their fellow countrywoman is making.
Nigerian Tennis Live has compiled a few MUST know facts about the talented 15-year-old American
– She started playing tennis at 6 and won her first junior grand slam title at the age of 15: The youngster became one of the youngest ever to win a junior grand slam after only nine years after she started training as a tennis star.
– She won her first junior grand slam the very year she turned pro. By implication, Whitney won her first grand slam after nine years since she started out as a tennis player.
– She is presently training at the IMG Tennis Academy, same place Serena Williams and her sister, Venus Williams started out, same place Nigeria’s Marylove Edwards is presently training.
– Her French Open win also entered the record books as only the 2nd time the final was contested between two Americans, with the other occurring in 1980 and that shot her to the number one spot on the junior rankings.