To want to help immediately is natural; to actually be able to
do so is special. So the story goes with incoming freshman tennis
sensation Robert Yim.
At a school with a tennis program as storied as that of UCLA,
players usually have to pay their dues and work their way up
through the program until they can legitimately contribute to the
team’s success.
In a collegiate sport that has six or seven players whose
performance counts toward the team’s point total, Yim will be
looking to be one of those players.
“I’d like to play top three,” he says.
This is quite a lofty goal, considering UCLA ranked No. 3 in the
nation at this past season’s end and that Yim has never
played in a collegiate match. But, he has reason to be
confident.
Yim is currently ranked No. 2 in the United States Tennis
Association Boys’ 18 rankings. He has been ranked as high as
No. 1, and his success in the Junior and Futures tennis circuits
hints at good things to come.
Last August, Yim reached the semifinals of the USTA Super
National Hardcourts in Kalamazoo, Mich., and was a main draw
participant in all four of the junior grand slams in 2002, reaching
the Round of 16 at both the Australian and U.S. Opens.
One of Yim’s greatest tennis accomplishments came in the
Australian Open, where he upset the No. 1 junior in the world,
Brian Dabul.
“I lost the first set, but then I won one and one (6-1,
6-1),” Yim recalls. “It was a weird match.”
Yim, whose greatest asset on the court is his powerful forehand,
likens his playing style to that of Andre Agassi or Marcelo
Rios.
“We’re all aggressive baseliners,” he
said.
Yim’s rise to UCLA followed a progression that saw him
grow increasingly more serious about the game as the years
passed.
He began to play tennis at age seven because he saw his older
brother Phillip doing it.
Phillip went on to play for the Air Force Academy, but it is
Robert who has become the family’s most successful tennis
player.
However, it wasn’t until age 14 that he grew very serious
about tennis and the prospect of having a future in the sport.
“I just wanted to be better,” he said.
And better is exactly what he became. Working with his coach,
Elliot Teltscher, Yim steadily improved. He attended Glendale High
School in Glendale, Calif., where he played at the No. 1 position
for three years and led his team into the second round of the
C.I.F. playoffs.
After his junior year, Yim was forced to make a tough decision
and put his tennis future above his high school friends. He stopped
attending Glendale High and enrolled in Futures High School, a home
school program.
“I was traveling a lot and I had to get the credits, or
else I wouldn’t graduate,” Yim said. “Home school
made it pretty easy ““ easier for me.
“Now I kind of regret it. Missing the fun parts of high
school was kind of hard.”
After the decision to home school, college was the next
monumental decision in Yim’s life.
After narrowing his choice to three schools ““ UCLA, USC,
and the University of Virginia ““ it turned out that UCLA
simply had the most to offer.
“It’s close. I’m in California. The tennis
program is good. The academics are good,” Yim said.
“Coach (Billy) Martin contacted me, and I just liked the
situation at UCLA.”
Now, like any incoming freshman, Yim will have to make some
lifestyle adjustments if he is going to succeed in college.
“I’m not worried about adjusting to college,”
he says. “I’m sure I can do it. But studying a lot will
be hard, and getting everything done and keeping up will be
difficult.”
Playing on the tennis team will compound these difficulties of
keeping up Yim may face.
But for someone who loves the game, it’s worth it.
Especially when the team is so talented.
“I’m pretty confident in this team,” he said.
“I think we have a great shot to win the NCAA
championship.”
And what about the future?
“I’d like to play professionally and be pretty
successful,” he said.
But Yim also realizes that the future is a long way off.
“Right now I’ll just take it little by
little.”