Thanks for watching. Some of the greatest tennis players ever have unique upbringings, & pro hopeful Deja Kitchiner is no different. Blessed with uncanny athletic ability, & timing Deja discovered tennis at age 3. She worked with her father 3 hours daily from that time, & played her first tourney at age 8. Due to the fact that Deja lived in a rural Northern California town she was unable to practice against other talented juniors. Deja had an abundance of natural athletic ability, but lacked match time due to the lack of practice partners, and her young parents inability to afford hitting partners or tennis academies. Despite the disadvantage Deja was a top 20 player in her age group(10’s) winning tourneys and placing high in the few events that she was able to play annually. Deja was stronger than kids her age, so a few tourneys per year were also dedicated to Deja playing events against much older competition. Deja performed well in these events also. When Deja was 10 years old the family moved to another rural area in Florida to avoid the dreadful Northern California winters. A dedicated Deja would often hit through the back of her family’s SUV truck or through the apartments hallway to maintain her ball striking schedule. Deja won her first 10 year old tourney in Ga without loosing a set, and she duplicated the feat in Florida playing against kids from both the Bollettieri & Saddle Brook academies. From there it was decided that Deja would play in predominantly older age groups to further her development. Deja competed & won half of her matches against the older players but her instinctive overpowering net style was going to have to be improved to reach the success level that she was accustomed to. For the next 3 years Deja began a strengthening program. Deja was already very explosive, but from watching Deja tire against the older competition Deja’s father learned that her aggressive style was more tiresome than traditional styles. Deja was also used to bullying players, so Deja’s racquet tension was increased to 62 pounds(an unheard of tension for an 11 year old girl) This would force the offensive Deja to develop her defensive skills, patience, and fighting spirit. At age 13 Deja qualified for nationals. A few weeks prior to nationals Deja left her lighter racquets on the practice courts, and they were taken. In replacing Deja’s racquets, Deja’s father figured that since Deja sliced her backhand a lot that he would get her a heavier racquet (similar to Steffi Grafs/the greatest slicer of alltime) In retrospect the racquet by nature increased Deja’s slice(her predominant) fundamentals but under pressure at nationals & when she needed to Deja was unable to flick her trademarked backhand top-spinned swing at the same effectiveness because the racquet was too heavy. Deja struggled at nationals and after nationals began to loose to a level of player that she wasn’t accustomed to loosing to. Deja’s desire for tennis was about to be tested because neither her nor her father could figure out why she was off. Deja now a popular 8th grader was going to have to choose between her flourishing social life, and home schooling to fix a puzzling tennis game that was on a downslide. Deja chose tennis and Deja’s father began to video everything in an attempt to find & fix the problem. While comparing Deja’s videos at age 12 & 13 Deja’s father realized that even though Deja was now 5’5 & 130 pounds her racquet was too heavy to execute her customary backhand flick swing. By increasing the weight of her racquet he had taken away a big part of Deja’s instinctive tennis game. Although Deja sliced often she used her swing to change rhythm and this change eliminated that possibility. Deja went through two more racquets before settling on the right stick. In fact in this particular video Deja was trying out a new racquet & ball machine program. Deja eventually settled on a racquet that is not featured in this video. The racquet would have to be firm enough to support Deja’s powerful serve(115+) forehand, & volley, & heavy slice but delicate enough to support her unique backhand flick. The racquet was chosen and after a six month layoff Deja began preparing for the first ever US Open wildcard play-off tourney. Deja’s you tube videos were becoming increasingly popular and this prompted the USTA to do a feature story on Deja for the Wildcard tourney. Over the next few months Deja worked hard and her father was now happy with Deja’s new found defensive ability and patience. Deja’s racquet tension was now back to the power level that she flourished with. Deja had been a serve and volleyer since she was 8, but the change in racquet tension had slowed her willingness to get to the net. After a few up & down warm-up tourneys Deja won a 16 year old tourney playing her traditional style of serve & volley, and to top it off her trademark flick was back. The next step was the US Open Playoff. Deja who had never showed nerves before was openly nervous & was unable to toss the ball to the correct position. Without her toss she struggled to serve well and lost 2-6, 3-6.…In Deja’s next tourney she struggled with not focusing on the toss as well. Something was wrong was it the pressure from the feature story, was it the popularity of the you tube video, was it expectations. Deja’s father left Deja to figure it out for herself only telling her once that the toss was too low, and too far in front of her, and that something not allowing her to think about this prior to serving. Deja’s father recalled a few stories about the junior struggles of Andy Roddick, & Pete Sampras. One of the fixes was to play Roddick in his own age group in an environment where he was supposed to win as opposed to in older age groups where it is somewhat acceptable to loose. What greater pressure is there than to be expected to win? Was this the pressure that had over taken Deja’s nerves and her ability to think calmly about her toss at the US Open Playoff & the following tourney? Deja was entered in a 14 year old super series event(a high level competition) Deja won in dominant fashion 6-2, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. Deja serve & volleyed the whole competition, and had no problem with a nervous toss. At age 14 Deja is now back to competing in the 18’s and will play two to three pro qualifiers per year as well. Don’t forget to subscribe for updates on Deja’s career. Friend Deja on facebook for pics, vids, updates & more
At age 14 Deja is currently 5'5 and weighs 133 pounds
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