FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - What started out with a little girl following her father around the tennis courts has cultivated into a tennis phenom who is hoping to become the next big thing in tennis.
With a picturesque swing and guidance from her coach, trainer and father, Akasha Urhobo is well on her way to serving up the competition on the tennis court.
“Ever since I was young, my dad had me play people who were double my age or I got used to playing people that were in their late teens by the time I was only 10,” said Akasha.
After winning the two-way high school state title as an eighth grader and dominating the junior circuit, Akasha decided to play professionally at 15 years old.
“My dad is a big inspiration to me because, without him, I would not be able to handle this pressure on my own,” she said.
Tj Urhobo has represented Nigerian tennis at the international level in the past and when he noticed his daughter had a gift after winning a competition at the age of five, he knew she was special.
“When she turned 12, she played the national open and after she did that it almost brought tears to my eyes,” he said. “Once she went into the state championship, the intensity was up there so I said to myself, ‘She’s there.'”
Akasha continues to grow in her skills, even after qualifying for her first professional world tennis tournament and making it to the quarter-finals.
“When it first started, I wondered how it was going to work,” said the young athlete. “I’m doing home-schooling which is not the same as when I was going to school.”
Normally, professional athletes do not like to be compared to others before them and for Akasha, it was inevitable.
“It used to bother me at the beginning of my career when I started competing,” said Akasha. “When you get into this line of the industry, you’re used to seeing other people that look like you, you’re gonna be compared to them.”
“She’s been compared to Venus [Williams]. At some point she was compared to Serena [Williams],” said Tj “She’s been compared to Coco [Gauff]. I tell [Akasha] to take it in stride. It’s good to be compared, I know she’s creating her own path.”
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