Tennis is in her blood

• By ROBIN FAMBROUGH
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jul 5, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:45 a.m.

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She grew up watching her mother play tennis. Life changed for Lauren Mira the day her mother, Theresa, put a racquet in her hands.

That was nearly eight years ago and a lot more has changed since then.

Mira still enjoys watching tennis occasionally, but now it is fair to say that tennis is clearly her racquet.

“I was always around tennis because my mom played with her friends,”  Mira said. “She put a racquet in my hands when I was eight. After that, a pro with BREC started to work with me.

“From there, I started playing all over the place and  taking lessons. I haven’t stopped for long since.”

Don’t expect the 15-year-old Mira to stop playing any time soon. Do expect the junior-to-be at St. Joseph’s Academy, already a two-time high school state champion, to adjust her expectations as needed.

“Lauren had a great high school season and she’s having a great summer,” local tennis coach Johnny Wahlborg said. “She’s more advanced than a lot of girls her age.

“A lot of things we work on  are mental. It’s important for her to keep things in perspective and play for all the right reasons. You have to find a balance.”

Wahlborg uses the word balance carefully, knowing how steady Mira is on and off the tennis court.

An honor student with a 3.8 grade point average, Mira is set to take several honors classes this fall while managing to practice three hours per day.

Methodical attention to detail is not new for Mira considering this list of accomplishments:

• She is unbeaten in singles play and has won two Division I-Class 5A state singles titles for SJA.
• Mira is a two-time MVP on the All-Metro tennis teams and was The Advocate’s Star of Stars for girls tennis in 2007 and 2008.
• In January, she teamed with a player from another state to win the girls 16s doubles title at the USTA Winter Nationals.
• Also, Mira has been rated as high as 18th nationally among 16-year-old girls singles players by one ranking service.

“The thing that has impressed me the most about Lauren is her attitude,” St. Joseph’s coach Carol Boudreaux said. “She doesn’t boast or try to put herself above other people. She’s very talented, but she’s also a team player first.

“She’s had a fabulous career so far and I believe she will excel for years to come certainly on to college and perhaps beyond that.”

When a player does so well that soon the pressure to succeed again and again can build as rapidly as tennis skills.