Las Vegan battles nerves, serves

Though only 18 years old, Asia Muhammad knows she's approaching a crossroads in her tennis career.

The Las Vegan, in her third year of playing professionally, has the physical tools to compete on the WTA Tour. But mentally she is still growing, trying not to let anxiety get the best of her on the court.

"It's something I'm aware of and I'm working on," Muhammad said. "I know there's still time for me to get there. But I also know this is a critical time for me."

Muhammad is competing this week in the Lexus of Las Vegas Open, a $50,000 women's USTA Pro Circuit event at Red Rock Country Club that starts at 9:30 a.m. today.

Muhammad, a wild-card entry, is scheduled to play seventh-seeded Heidi El-Tabakh in the featured match just after 4 p.m. Wednesday. Muhammad and Coco Vandeweghe will play a first-round doubles match at 4 p.m. today.

How long she stays in the tournament probably will depend on how well Muhammad keeps her composure.

"I really like where my game is right now," she said. "I just hope I don't get too nervous."

Muhammad, No. 387 in the WTA computer rankings, has had an up-and-down year.

She reached the third round in girls junior singles earlier this month at the U.S. Open, knocking off top-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France in her first match.

But Muhammad has struggled to beat the injury bug, missing two months this year with a back injury and being forced to retire from her first-round match last week in Albuquerque, N.M. after spraining her left ankle. A hamstring injury sidelined her for a substantial period of time last year.

"It has been frustrating at times," she said. "But I was feeling good before I hurt my ankle last week. Physically, I'm as good as I've been."

Muhammad passed on college to go pro. Despite her low ranking and lack of success, she said she still thinks it was the right move.

"College will always be there," she said. "But this is what I wanted, and I didn't want to have any regrets or what-ifs."

Muhammad said she doesn't put much stock in her U.S. Open run. Her focus is on the future.

"I played OK. I played smart. But I know I can play better," she said. "I haven't played that many matches this year, but I feel like I'm smarter on the court."

Muhammad's longtime coach, Tim Blenkiron, said she needs to develop some consistency if she hopes to move up in the rankings.

"We've got a couple of pieces of the puzzle to find," Blenkiron said. "Her lack of consistency in her performance is the biggest issue in her game. One day, she's serving like a guy and she's unstoppable. The next day, she can't serve at all. When she's relaxed, she's hitting the ball super. But when she's feeling the anxiety, she struggles. And that's the key that will open up everything. She has to learn to overcome her anxiety on the court."

When asked if Muhammad has tried a sports psychologist, the coach said, "Yeah, we've got a sports psychologist -- Blenkiron."

Her father, Ron Holmes, said this is the time for his daughter to move forward with her career.

"They look at the physical aspect, but they forget about the mental aspect," he said. "Right now, she's at a critical stage of her career."

Muhammad said as she has grown older, she has done a better job of dealing with the negativity that might creep into her mind during a match.

Playing at home this week could help her stay more relaxed as well.

"I'm looking forward to it because I know the crowd's going to be cheering for me," she said. "I'm just concentrating on playing loose and not making such a big deal about it."

• NOTES -- No. 1 seed Varvara Lepchenko is the highest-ranked player competing this week at Red Rock. Lepchenko, the only top-100 player in the field, is No. 91 on the WTA computer. ... Las Vegan Sabrina Capannolo failed to make the main draw, getting eliminated in qualifying Sunday. ... A kids clinic is scheduled for at 6 p.m. today after the first round of play. The clinic costs $2 to attend.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.