Why this Springfield native left high school tennis to pursue her dream in Florida

While the girls tennis players from the area just finished up their Illinois high school state tournament matches, Springfield native Agnes Cross has taken a different route to expand her game.

Cross, a former Sacred Heart-Griffin student, moved to Bradenton, Florida, this fall to attend the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy for her senior year. The 18-year-old is truly a year-round player now, and she couldn’t have been happier when asked about her decision.

“It’s really amazing, honestly,” Cross said. “It’s super fun.”

Cross was The State Journal-Register's Tennis Player of the Year in 2021. She finished her junior season with a 27-2 record and placed in the top eight at the Illinois High School Association state tennis finals.

“My training kicked into gear that summer,” Cross said. “I really had to work on my mental game. I always had good shots, but I was never in it, I guess you could say. I never had the mental strength to get over my weaknesses. I started to accept the fact that failure was unavoidable, which is funny because that’s when I started to perform even better.”

Her decision to join the tennis academy was not because of her high finish at state, she said.

Springfield's best: Meet the 2022 SJ-R tennis player of the year and all-area team

“That wasn’t on my mind,” Cross admitted. “I had just assumed I would have my senior year (at SHG) for redemption, I guess you could call it. But it went a different way.”

Her familiarity with IMG contributed more to her decision.

“I’ve gone (to Florida) for the past three summers for a series of training camps,” Cross said. “I’ve gotten to know (the coaches) and they’ve gotten to know my game. It’s really nice because we don’t have to break down that barrier — it's just a kind of jump-in and go. They talked to me about full-time, but it never really seemed to be possible. My parents were always against the idea of me moving away, but this year they said it could help (my) recruiting. I thought it would be a good move to get into a super-competitive environment.”

New beginnings

Cross said her current inner-circle includes international players from China, India, Senegal and “everywhere from all around the world.”  

“The competition is insane, to say the least,” she said.

SHG coach Hayden Esker was a big advocate of Cross taking her shot at something to make her grow.

“I think it’s a great opportunity — not everyone gets invited to play down there,” Esker said. “This time she decided to go down there for the actual school year. Obviously, her goal is to play high-level tennis and this is probably the best option to get there. Playing around (Illinois) more, she’s playing the same players since she was 10 years old, which at this point it became kind of stale.”

Esker did not coach Cross during high school, that was the privilege of former coach Mike Martin when Cross played doubles her freshman season before becoming a full-time singles player in 2020. Nonetheless, Cross said her relationship with Esker has been special since she was very young.

More:Here are 8 high school girls tennis players to know around Springfield in fall 2022

“Hayden has been my private coach since I was around 8 years old,” she said. “He’s just like family to me. He and Mike, both supported me through everything. I really appreciate all that they’ve done for me.”

“She was one of my first students when I moved into town in around 2012,” said Esker, a former University of Illinois-Springfield player. “It’s been nice to see her grow up. I’ve known her a while and it’s tough to see her move out, but it’s definitely the right decision for her. She’s getting what she wanted to by going. They have cameras on all their courts, so she’ll send me videos of some of her matches, and she’ll ask me to watch them and let me know what she thinks. It’s kind of fun.”

A tennis baby, she was

Cross said she grew up amongst the Springfield tennis community before she could walk. Instead of going to pre-school, she would watch her mother (Susan) play three days a week. Her older siblings, Graham and Isabel — now in their mid-20s — are former SHG players, and she remembers going to their tennis tournaments.

“They’re a little bit jealous,” joked Cross when asked about her siblings' thoughts about her move to Florida. “They were totally excited for me, and I get texts from them constantly. My brother’s always asking me for videos of me playing and the different facilities here. I know that they really support me.”

“I was really sad to miss my senior season, like what everybody looks forward to, whether it was prom or just your high-school season. I totally miss my coaches and family, but I’m really thankful to be here.”

State finals:How Springfield-area girls tennis players fared at state

The future

Cross appears to have things planned out. Her goal is to ultimately be a Division I college student-athlete and she has already picked out the university of her choice.  

“I’m obsessed with Butler University in Indianapolis,” she said. “To major in psychology has been my dream for a long time.”

Another dream for Cross would be to meet American tennis pro Amanda Anisimova. Cross said that Anisimova sometimes trains at the Florida facility. She hopes an autograph from Anisimova is in the near future, and she also commented on the current landscape of U.S. tennis and how it is thriving in the WTA and ATP circuits.

“American players right now are super young,” Cross said. “Coco Gauff and all of them — you can see how fast they improve and they’re in such prime physical shape. They’re around the same age as me and you can see how amazing they are, how much potential they have, and how they are willing to tap into it.”

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield native Agnes Cross part of IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy