Valerie Glozman hits the Big Apple

Most of Valerie Glozman’s friends are gearing up to start their freshman years of college this fall. Instead of devoting the month before her September 17 Stanford University move-in date to shopping for clothes, bedding, and school supplies, the 17-year-old tennis player from Bellevue, Washington, is spending her third August in a row at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Queens, New York, competing in the 128-person US Open Qualifying Tournament in an attempt to make the main draw as of the last eight standing.

Glozman, the USTA Girls’ 18s national singles runner-up, received a wild card into the qualifying tournament, along with such players as four-time Grand Slam singles champion Naomi Osaka, 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, and several fellow 17-and-under players, including Akasha Urhobo (17), Iva Jovic (16), Tyra Grant (16), Julieta Pareja (15), and 14-year-old Kristina Penickova, who reached the girls’ singles semifinals at the French Open.

Glozman faced the tournament’s 17th seed, Zhuoxuan Bai of China, in her first-round match. Glozman quickly took the first set 6-1 in 25 minutes. She broke Bai at 4-2 before going up 5-4. Glozman appeared on track to close out the match before Bai won the 64-minute set in a tiebreaker. Glozman closed out the third set 6-2 to advance to Wednesday’s second-round match versus Varvara Lepchenko of the USA, ranked 196th in the world.

Lepchenko, 38, is 21 years older than Glozman and played her first Grand Slam event in 1996, the year Glozman was born.

Glozman and Russ Bucklin, who works alongside her Ukrainian-Jewish father, Igor Glozman, as part of her coaching team, met with The Jerusalem Post for a post-match interview in the media center garden. Bucklin, a club owner and coach who has had four students in the top 100 for juniors, worked with Valerie’s now 24-year-old sister, Vivian when she was a young tennis player. He playfully notes that he has known Glozman “since she was in the womb.” Bucklin describes Glozman as “just tough as hell” with the “highest tennis IQ” he has ever seen. He notes that she “almost never chooses the wrong shot – which is tough for anyone.”

Glozman was generally pleased with the match and offered insight into the match and her growth over the past three years here at the US Open.

“I feel like the pressure is building to do a little better each year. I just wanted to live in the moment a little more.”

Glozman living her dream

Glozman has also enjoyed the close proximity to and occasional interaction with her tennis heroes. She describes how exciting it is “being in the same area as all of the pros I’ve seen on TV,” but is “trying a little harder not to keep asking for photos!” She acknowledges taking a photo with Coco Gauff a few years ago.  Glozman empathizes with these players.

“I know how hard it is to be in the spotlight.” She enjoys “seeing they are normal people, like in real life.”

Glozman is looking forward to the tennis, academic, and social experiences.

“I am looking forward to having constant matches and built-in practices with a bunch of great players to hit with every day. I love team events, so I am looking forward to being surrounded by the team.”

Glozman is also “open to further exploration. I will look around and see what clubs they offer.”

On Wednesday, Glozman trailed Lepchenko 4-3 in the first set before coming back to win 6-4.  Lepchenko never trailed in the second set, winning 6-4. Their end-to-end battle on court 12 crossed the two-hour mark just as Lepchenko was closing out the match with a 6-3 victory in the third set.

While obviously disappointed with the outcome of the hard fought match, Glozman took comfort in the number of children and adults seeking autographs and requesting selfies and offering encouraging words about their hopes for her future. One day soon, Glozman will be the player with a lot more experience than an up and coming young player.

For now, Glozman is figuring out her plans and practice schedule as she awaits and prepares for the US Open Juniors Tournament, taking place September 1-7.

The daughter of a Taiwanese mother and a Ukrainian Jewish father, Glozman has always been curious about learning more about her family’s heritages.

While she has not yet visited Israel, Glozman smiles as she recounts how she receives information about Israel.

“Don’t you have to be 18?” the 17-year-old offered (likely talking about a Birthright program requirement).

 “It would be so much fun to go to Israel.” Anticipating a very busy next few years of tennis, Glozman quickly added, “after college.”