Esmero Takes Quiet Approach to Tennis

Melissa Esmero has beaten the best junior players in Southern California. Nina and Nadia Vaughan, Caylan Leslie, Katie Canright, Katey Becker, Eleanor Luzano, Vanessa Godbey and Adriana Hockicko, to name just a few.

She is ranked sixth among under-14s in Southern California. Playing more than 80 sets of competition this season, she lost only two. In doubles, she and her partner Hockicko have been ranked No. 1 the past two years.

But most inspiring about this 14-year-old Mater Dei freshman is her attitude--she doesn’t have one.

Nobody has a bad thing to say about Esmero, who is modest and humble. For two consecutive years she has received the Southern California Sportsmanship Award, voted on by her peers. And although she is one of the best young tennis players in Southern California, she has a different view.

“I don’t really think of myself as a really good player,” Esmero said. “I know a lot of people at my level that are really good. There are a lot of people that can beat me.”

That thinking has caused a bit of concern in her personal coach, Wojkec Pietrowski. He wants her to get that killer attitude, to get cocky and know that she should beat anybody who steps on the court with her.

“I have a problem with this. She is always thinking that she is not good,” Pietrowski said. “I try to get her to think positive.”

Although Esmero may not think she is one of the best, everyone else knows differently, including the U.S. Tennis Assn., which invited her to her first major international tournament (the Orange Bowl in Miami on Dec. 16). Not only was she invited, but she was selected for the main draw, which includes only 128 juniors from around the world.

“I’m a little bit nervous, but not really,” Esmero said. “ It will help me because I can watch players from other places and learn their composure and attitudes. These kids are really mature and they are all really experienced. I have a lot of catching up to do.”

On that aspect Cindy Nolan, who coaches Esmero at Mater Dei, doesn’t agree. Esmero’s mental fortitude and determination are what most impresses Nolan.

“Technically she is extremely sound and she is so focused,” Nolan said. “She is so mentally tough and she is always able to maintain her focus. Her mental ability is just amazing to me.”

That mental determination got her through many tough matches this season, including her only two losses--to Canyon’s Shannon Wilkins and Palm Desert’s Jennifer Baker.

“She was really sick at the Wilkins match,” Nolan said. “She had been throwing up. And against Baker, I think she was worried because her father hadn’t shown up yet.”

Her father, Delfin, is the reason Esmero began playing tennis. She began hitting the ball with him and her sister Judy, a member of the Long Beach State tennis team, only four years ago.

Playing after school at Marina High, Melissa quickly picked up the game and rose to the top of the Southern California ranks. She still regularly hits balls with her father and sister, both of whom she says she can beat. When her sister doesn’t make it to one of her matches, her father is there to warm her up.

And although her parents and sister are there to back her up, they don’t push her with unreasonable expectations.

“I think it isn’t right for parents to push,” Esmero said. “If I want to do it, I’m going to be the one to push myself. They really encourage me, but I’m the one who has to make the choice.”

Right now, Esmero’s choice is to continue playing tennis and remain a regular teenager. She spends her weekends hanging out at the mall with her friends and her weekdays are dedicated to school, tennis, homework and sleep. She contemplates one day going to Notre Dame, where Pietrowski’s son Jacob is the top player, and possibly studying to be a physical therapist.

What Esmero’s distant future holds, Pietrowski wants to wait and see. But for the next few years, barring any injuries, he sees nothing but good.

“I believe with her talent she has a chance to be in the top 20 in the nation next year,” Pietrowski said. “She is a very hard-working and serious tennis player. She has a bit of an advantage, because she plays with a two-handed forehand and backhand. She is like Monica Seles. She is very talented and has excellent coordination. I think she is ready.”