UH Manoa’s tennis player strives for more

Michelle Pits plans for her tennis career 

By: Leigh Acio

When she was four years old, Michelle Pits picked up tennis balls at her local after school tennis clinic. Now, Pits dreams of becoming a professional tennis player. After speaking to other tennis players like Serena Williams and Roger Federer, Pits has the drive to become one.

“I have never seen a girl so talented with so much skill in my life. You really need to look at yourself, and look at how much talent you have and use that,” tennis coach Tony Roche said after watching Pits play when she was young.

At the age of 16, Australian tennis player Pits qualified for the Australian Open in January of 2014 by winning in four singles matches. Although she won the four matches, she lost against Serbian tennis player Ivana Jorovic.

“When I qualified for singles, I got luck of the draw. I got the girl who was the best in the world. I didn’t do too well, but it was a good experience,” Pits said.

After the Australian Open, Pits furthered her tennis career by playing college tennis at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Although she got many opportunities from other schools, Hawaii was the best option for her.

“With Hawaii, I just felt [that] it was close to home, and also I just really love the program. I thought ‘why not come to Hawaii and play the sport I love?’ All the other schools had Australians there and I wanted to meet people who weren’t Australian,” Pits said.

In Pits’ freshman year in college, she felt like she was adjusting to college tennis for too long; however, she plans on playing a more aggressive game this season, getting a winning record and winning more games.

“I feel like I can need to keep it more consistent this year,” Pits said.

Pits hopes to have a better season this year and to be able to compete at the Australian Open in the future.