Recruiting Profile
A Conversation with Caroline Dolehide
by
Colette Lewis, 24 February 2015
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Sixteen-year-old Caroline Dolehide is hardly unknown to junior tennis fans in the United States. The Hinsdale, Illinois resident has been in the top six of the Tennis Recruiting Network's 2017 class since entering the rankings as a 6th-grader in 2011 and reached the Easter Bowl 16s final in 2013.
Yet until she reached the semifinals of the
US Open Junior Championships last September as an unseeded qualifier, Dolehide was unknown on the International Tennis Federation's junior circuit. With a semifinal appearance at the Grade 1
Eddie Herr and a quarterfinal result at the Grade A
Orange Bowl in December, both Dolehide's ranking and her profile have risen, and she is planning to play both the French and Wimbledon Junior championships this summer.
With her powerful groundstrokes and big serve, Dolehide has a game that is expected to translate well into the professional ranks, with the 5-foot-9-inch right-hander getting her first look at a player in the WTA's Top 150 as a wild card into the $100,000 Dow Corning Tennis Classic in Midland, Michigan. Drawing No. 3 seed Jovana Jaksic of Serbia in the first round, Dolehide more than held her own, falling 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to the WTA's 130th-ranked player.
After that match I sat down with Dolehide to discuss her first taste of competition at that level, what changes she's made to her game, her transition to online schooling and how Novak Djokovic has influenced her.
Questions and Answers
Colette Lewis (CL): How did if feel competing against a Top 150 player?
Caroline Dolehide (CD): I don't think that many people know about me at this level. I was nervous in the beginning, because I was playing this girl who was like 100 in the world, and she has a lot more experience than me, but as soon as I got on the court, I just focused on how I was going to beat this girl. In the second set, I had more offense than she did, so that's how I won it. But the third set, I think we were more relaxed, and it ended up going her way.
CL: Did you expect to play that well, push her that hard?
CD: I kind of expected to do well here. I've been playing really well lately, so I don't think about it, I just go out and play. I drew the third seed and I thought this was going to be a really good opportunity for me.
