by Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Sophia Webster, the 20-year-old niece of seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras, just achieved something that her famous uncle first did when he was 16 – achieve a world ranking.
Webster, who just finished her sophomore year at Vanderbilt University, clinched her first WTA Tour ranking point in the first round of the USTA SoCal Pro Series event in Irvine, Calif., defeating Sacramento’s Klara Kosan, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, in a first-round match. Webster is the daughter of Stella Sampras Webster – UCLA’s women’s tennis coach for the past 30 years as well as a four-time NCAA All-American and a 1988 NCAA individual doubles champion with the Bruins.
“Milestone! It was really exciting. I haven’t really thought of it until you mentioned it,” Webster said to on-site public relations officers after achieving that first ranking point. “Playing the last few years and haven’t made it past qualies and lost first round, so getting my first point is, definitely, really cool. I called my mom afterwards, told her how it went. She was happy.”
Webster didn’t know if word of her groundbreaking result had yet spread to her Uncle Pete, “unless my mom talked to him. He’s always super supportive, which is great.”
It was Webster’s first match since she completed her sophomore season playing with Vanderbilt in a NCAA Division I Super Regional on May 9. She also plans to play in the SoCal Pro Series finale at Rancho Santa Fe Tennis Club the week of July 6.
Webster also explained why she chose to play for Vanderbilt over staying home to play for her mother at UCLA.
Said Webster: “I obviously grew up on UCLA’s campus and that was always my dream school. But when I started getting recruited, I think that’s when you start realizing what life would be like in college with your mom coaching you, like how that dynamic is going to work on the team and with the other coaches. I think at that point I realized I kind of wanted to have my own path and to not have my mom be there every step of the way.
“UCLA was always in the back of my mind and I was kind of just waiting for the right fit. And then I went to Vandy and I loved it. I loved the coaches. I loved the team. And my mom knows them really well and said all good things about them. My parents were super supportive. Honestly, my mom was like, ‘If you want to come to UCLA, we’d love to have you,’ but she wanted me to have my own experience as well.”
To read more about the amazing career of Pete Sampras, and the details of his 14 major singles titles, get the book “Pete Sampras: Greatness Revisited” by Steve Flink here: https://a.co/d/0422jN4x
To learn more about the SoCal Pro Series, go to socalproseries.com.
Follow along on Instagram at instagram.com/socalproseries.
Like the Facebook page at facebook.com/socalproseries.
About USTA Southern California
Founded in 1887, USTA Southern California is one of the 17 sections of the United States Tennis Association. Comprising Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties, the Southern California section is one of the nation’s most prolific contributors of tennis talent and supports the growth of the game by fostering opportunities at all levels, developing innovative programming, and providing for communities though its charitable arm, the SCTA Foundation. Nationally, the USTA is a not-for-profit organization committed to promoting the game of tennis by offering quality recreational and competitive programs for people of all ages and abilities.
