Tapping her potential
Proper guidance elevates Rudolph's game to next level
By Chris Isidro
UCLA head coach Bill Zaima and assistant Stella Sampras took an excursion to Mesa, Ariz., during the summer of 1993 to visit Kelly Rudolph, for the first time. Despite the sweltering heat, the budding recruit should have considered wearing sweats.
"Sampras and I went to visit Kelly and her parents in Mesa and I'm sitting there and looking at these little Band-Aids on her knee," Zaima said. "I thought she was going to play the whole summer circuit and we wanted to see her before she started so I asked 'What happened?'"
Damaged cartilage in her right knee forced Rudolph to the operating table only days earlier, one of two procedures that would sideline Rudolph for 16 months. And although the only daughter of former major league catcher Ken Rudolph was never among the top echelon of junior netters, Zaima offered her a letter of intent that ensuing November.
"She travelled to tournaments herself, carried herself very well and won a number of sportsmanship awards," Zaima said. "And that's the kind of player I want to build my team around."
"Physically, she's a skilled kid," her father said. "But she has a good personality to go with her. She's always smiling when you see her on the court and she has a great attitude."
Born in St. Louis while her father was calling pitches for the Cardinals, Rudolph was athletically inclined early, playing youth softball soon after her family settled in Arizona.
She was not introduced to tennis until age 10, when her father handed her a racket and placed her under the tutelage of Candy Hart, the instructor at the family's country club.
"I started playing tennis and that next summer I was also doing softball and swim team," Rudolph said. "But I just liked tennis a little more, spent more time on it and dropped everything else."
Rudolph draws off her father's experiences and believes his accomplishments allows the Bruin freshman to savor her own milestones
"I think it has helped because my dad has already done what he wanted to do, and a lot of times I see parents maybe not living through their kids, but pushing them too hard," she said.
"I get on her at times when she doesn't do what she should do," her father added. "But having been there already, I didn't need to have her perform for my benefit."
After completing a successful trial run at some local events, Rudolph competed in national tournaments at 14, and had several strong showings highlighted by her three titles at the Fiesta Bowl Junior Nationals, played only 10 minutes from home.
Her highest ranking in junior competition was No. 30, and while that may seem pedestrian, Rudolph did not enjoy a benefit many of her peers had a personal coach.
"She was on the first page of the rankings, but not very high," Zaima said. "You kind of get this feeling that when you see players that don't have a coach travelling with them, that they can get a lot better in college."
Although she picked up valuable lessons while she packed her own bags to numerous tournaments, Rudolph felt something missing by not having someone there who knows what it's like on the court.
"It made me a lot more independent by travelling alone," she said. "But if I had to do it over again, I would get a coach who had more playing experience and knew more about strategy and gamesmanship."
The affable 5-foot-9-inch freshman, who started the 1995 season for UCLA 6-2 after completing rehabilitation on her knees in December, enjoys having coaches working with her everyday and believes they will harness her raw talent.
"I don't think I'm even close to my peak yet," Rudolph said. "I'm so glad to be here and have people help me. I think this is where I'm going to develop most."
Zaima shares Rudolph's belief, having scouted her extensively in the junior circuit, and has hopes she can follow Chi and Phebus' shoes and assume the role of top Bruin netter.
"I've been watching her since the first year of 16-and-over's and thought she'd be an excellent college player," he said. "She had a nice game, was smooth hitting the ball, and was also tall.
"I think one day, she is going to be a big time player for us," Zaima added.
But in the meantime, Rudolph is just one of eight Bruins competing for six lineup spots, and the young star is still trying to absorb the flood of pointers coming her way.
"I'd like to say that I'm a really fast learner and that I pick up things quickly," Rudolph said. "But I have to be more patient because they're telling me all these things and I want to do everything but I have to slow down and take them one at a time."