Kayla Cross has been hitting a lot of winners in the women’s tennis world lately.
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Kayla Cross has been hitting a lot of winners in the women’s tennis world lately.
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The 20-year-old Londoner captured her second International Tennis Federation title last month in California and has climbed to a career-high No. 221 global ranking. Next week, she will take a break from her freshman NCAA season with 10th-ranked Louisiana State University to represent Canada in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan.
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“Getting selected for the first time is amazing,” Cross said. “I’m honoured and excited to be playing for Canada and being a part of something bigger. I’ve never been to Japan, so that’s an added bonus. The four other girls I’m going with, we all get along and know each other.
“We have a chance to do really well.”
The No. 2 ranked Canadians are in a group with Romania (13) and host Japan (14). The winner advances to the BJK Cup finals in November at Shenzhen, China.
“Canada won it in 2023 (at Seville, Spain),” Cross said. “The goal is to do it again.”
Two years ago, the youngster from an avid local tennis-playing family was just getting started in the jet-setting pro game. She added business studies at LSU in January and is part of the competitive Tigers program.
“I’ve been improving and playing a lot,” the 5-foot-9 left-hander said. “Increased match play has helped. The travel has been a mix-and-match thing with my school coaches and Tennis Canada coaches helping me. My dad (Cameron, a coach at Western University) did one event with me this season. The school and Tennis Canada have worked together and provided a consistent message even when it’s different coaches.
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“I think it has worked well.”
Cross already has played in all the junior Grand Slams. Her individual goal now is to qualify for one of the senior Slams starting with the French Open at Roland Garros in May.
She is also leading the points in a system introduced by Tennis Canada to get a wild-card spot at the National Bank Open at Montreal starting in late July. That berth will be decided right before the event starts, so she has to keep climbing the ladder.
“Seeing your ranking grow and knowing you’re close to reaching Grand Slam qualifying is really uplifting,” Cross said. “When I started pro tournaments, I would play two to three matches and be pretty sore and tired. Now, you’re still tired, but I can get to five or six matches and handle that better. I’ve got more confident and mentally stronger. I thought I had a good all-around game but bumping everything else makes a huge difference.
“The strokes and skills are there but having that confidence to use them on important points has improved.”
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In early March, she beat American Iva Jovic in straight sets to win the $30,000 ITF event in Arcadia, Calif. She followed that with a semifinal appearance in Dominican Republic.
“Before, I would go in knowing I can win this match but seeing players higher ranked than me with better (historical) results,” she said. “Going into every match knowing there’s a high chance I can win has set me up even better. When you’re four-all in the second set, you know you can get through this because you’ve done it before.
“You play enough, you start to get used to it and it’s less nerve-wracking if you’re comfortable. All those things have really helped me.”
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