A Time and a Place For Everything
May 1, 2009
by Rob Dunning, UM Sports Media Relations
Her life is unlike most 22-year-old college students, let alone collegiate tennis players. She’s lived on three different continents. She’s befriended and trained alongside some of the game’s elite. University of Miami junior Laura Vallverdu has experienced more than most her age, and it shows.
A two-time collegiate All-American and already one of the most accomplished women’s tennis players in UM history, Vallverdu has molded her out-going personality, international upbringing and her exceptional ability on the court into one of the most dynamic, exceptional athletes in college tennis.
Vallverdu started playing tennis at the age of six in her hometown of Valencia, the capital city of Carabobo in northern Venezuela. She began playing tournaments at eight and by the age of 14, had moved to Barcelona, Spain with her older brother Daniel to attend school and open herself up to more opportunities in tennis. Once there, she competed against and trained alongside other elite tennis prodigies, including Andy Murray, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Bovna at the prestigious Sanchez-Casal Academy.
She was constantly on the move growing up, traveling the world to compete in tournaments whenever and wherever possible. One of her regular stops was in Miami, where her parents – Antonio Vallverdu and Daniela Zafra – would recurrently bring her family over the summer for tennis tournaments and family vacations. The trips to South Florida with her parents – who live in the Canary Islands – and her brother, all but ensured one day she would be a Hurricane.
“When I knew I had an opportunity to play at the University of Miami, I had to take it,” Vallverdu said. “I’ve always loved the City of Miami, and the chance to be a part of one of the elite programs in the country was too good to pass up.”
In addition to her brother – who plays on UM’s men’s team and has been a mainstay in the ITA Top 10 the last few years – and her dad – who taught and trained her growing up – her list of mentors, teachers, friends and training partners is awfully impressive for a young college tennis player.
She played alongside and now trains with 2007 NCAA singles champion and current pro Audra Cohen.
She works out daily with Miami assistants Jeff Thomsen – a two-year letterman at Oregon from 1997-99 – and Megan Bradley – a former top-ranked singles player nationally during her time as a Hurricane from 2003-05.
Even Murray stays in touch with both of the Vallverdu siblings to this day, and often shares the courts at UM’s Miami’s Neil Schiff Tennis Center training alongside the Hurricanes.
But arguably the most important person in Vallverdu’s growth as both a tennis player and person has been UM head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews – a three-time conference coach of the year and former All-American player at UCLA.
“Paige has taught me so much about tennis, but more importantly, how to be a leader,” Vallverdu said.
Even as a sophomore, it was only natural for Vallverdu to take on more of a leadership role as one of the team’s more vocal players playing No. 1 singles and doubles. This year, as the oldest and most experienced member of the team, Vallverdu has embraced the role … and it is evident.
“I’m proud of the way Laura has matured both on and off the court in her three years here,” Yaroshuk-Tews said. “Everything she does in life is done with a great deal of enthusiasm and determination, and as she grows older, it shows more and more in the way she leads the younger girls.”
During matches, Vallverdu’s presence is known on her court by her opponent, and felt throughout the surrounding courts by her teammates.
“When I am out there, I feel the momentum of the match,” Vallverdu said. “I feel what is going on three courts behind me and when I get excited, it is going to be significant. It is going to be because I have my opponent where I want her, or because I can feel my teammates picking up momentum around me.”
Vallverdu’s list of accomplishments on the court in her time in Coral Gables is impressive. Her 63 wins through her sophomore year is a school record. Despite missing significant time her freshman year with a knee injury, she finished 32-3 and was ranked as high as No. 6 nationally. She is the only women’s student-athlete ever at UM to have been named All-ACC on three occasions and to top that off, she recently became the first women’s tennis player in program history to be selected for the both NCAA singles and doubles tournaments in each of her first three seasons.
As her junior season winds down, Vallverdu – a Psychology major with a 3.7 GPA – isn’t sure what her next step will be. Like any elite tennis player at the college level, professional tennis is always in the back of her mind.
“If everything lines up and the situation is perfect for me, I will put 100 percent of my effort into continuing my career in tennis whenever the opportunity arises,” Vallverdu said. “All that said, I have so many good people around me at UM. I’m getting a great education, and I wouldn’t change a thing about my life right now.”
If and when the aspirations of a pro tennis career are over, graduate school and a career in child psychology are both strong possibilities.
Regardless of what lies ahead for Vallverdu, it will have to wait for now.
“I came to Miami to get a degree and win a championship,” Vallverdu said. “I’ve come a long way, but I’m not there yet.”
