Meet Catherine Goldman, a 12-year-old local tennis prodigy ranked 23rd in the National Juniors Singles Seedings. She’s training for a busy 2019, including the Easter Bowl USTA National Championship Tournament in March. But her goals are even higher than that.
"First of all, I want to become number one in the world and I actually want to beat the world record for Grand Slam. So out of all the Grand Slams, I want to win Wimbledon the most," said Catherine Goldman.
Goldman trains for 6 hours a day in Ft. Lauderdale and plays in tournaments all year long under the tutelage of coach Tangerine Manning. And coach Manning sees greatness in Catherine.
"I think what excites me the most about Catherine is her determination and her will, she's a very strong-willed player. When she gets out there she fights like no other person. She has all of the things that make a champion. She just played in the girls 16s and she's 12 years old and won the tournament, which is outstanding." said coach Manning
When Catherine looks for inspiration, she looks to her two favorite players. And they might just be the two greatest players in the history of the sport: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
"The thing I love about Roger is that his game is very classical, as for Rafael I love him because he's very relatable to me. I'm a lefty, he's a lefty, he started off playing tennis as a righty, and I started off playing tennis as a righty." says Goldman
For all you parents out there who's kids are competitive athletes, Catherine's mom has some advice for you.
"Understand that your child is your partner, you also need to be a manager and an agent for your child. Meaning that you have to do your best to find a sport for your child to learn for their professional career." says Goldman's mother Elena Goldman
Later this year Catherine will step up in competition and play in the 'Girls 14 and Under Category' and she hopes to turn pro by age 15. So remember her now because you may see a whole lot more of her later.
