Frazier’s in High School, Not in Paris This Weekend

While many of the other top tennis players are at the French Open, Amy Frazier is at home -- finishing high school.

Five months and six tournaments into her professional career, Frazier is taking time out to wrap up a remnant of her non-professional life.

On June 11, the 21st ranked women’s tennis player in the world will become a graduate of Rochester Adams High School.

It will mean an end to squeezing in study time around competition in places like Chicago, Key Biscayne, Fla., and Oklahoma City, Okla., where she won her first pro tournament Feb. 25.

“I think it means a lot to her to graduate and be with her friends,” said Armand Molino, Frazier’s trainer for the past 3 1/2 years.

“This is an extremely important moment for her,” he said. “It’s kind of the end of a chapter in her life with a lot of people she may not see again. And she realizes that she’s starting into a whole new world where everyone is competing for prestige and status.”

Frazier will play next in the Pilkington Glass Ladies Championships in Eastbourne, England. That’s a warmup for Wimbledon, which starts the last week of June.

Frazier seems almost unmoved by the suggestion that she might replace Chris Evert as the next American tennis darling.

There’s a crowded field of ladies in waiting led by Jennifer Capriati, of Wesley Chapel, Fla., and Mary Jo Fernandez of Miami. Fernandez is ranked eighth and the 14-year-old Capriati is ranked 24th. Five other Americans and Frazier are ranked in the top 25.

“There is a lot of depth in the American (women’s) ranks right now,” Molino said. “It’s difficult to say who is going to replace Chris, if anybody.”