After her final match at the NCAA Singles Championship in Athens, Georgia, Anna Lubinsky ended her college tennis career ranked 30th in the nation. And with a 109-46 mark, she holds the second highest record for wins in Texas A&M tennis history.
Regret isn’t in Lubinsky’s vocabulary. Neither is quitting: the 2007 summa cum laude finance graduate has decided to pursue her dream of playing professional tennis.
“I’ve heard if I don’t go for it now, fresh out of college, the opportunity will pass me by. I don’t want to have any regrets,” she says.
Earlier this summer, Lubinsky joined the $10,000 circuit in Dallas, the beginning tier for professional tennis. For every tournament won, players receive money from the $10,000 pool. Lubinsky is now training at home in Richardson before the tour begins in Fort Worth and then takes her to Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana and Missouri.
At Mays, Lubinsky took hold of opportunities outside the tennis courts as well. In summer 2006 she interned for International Management Group, which helped her plan combining her skills in both tennis and finance. After she retires from her tennis career, Lubinsky hopes to be an athletic director or chief financial officer for a professional sports team. “I’ve always known I wanted to do finance and tennis,” Lubinsky says.
During her four years at Texas A&M, Lubinsky was a member of Aggie Athletes Involved, co-program chair of Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and was a contributing writer for 12th Man on Campus magazine. In 2005 Lubinsky was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Summer Circuit National Player of the Year. Then in 2006 and 2007, she was recognized for her doubles skills as the Line 2 Doubles Big 12 Champion. She concluded her career as the 2007 Southwest Regional Senior Player of the Year and Line 1 Singles Big 12 Champion.
For Lubinsky, tennis involves more than just athletic ability. Lubinsky received the Aggie Heart Award in 2006 and 2007. Coach Bobby Kleinecke writes, “Anna exemplifies what you would hope every student-athlete coming in will become. She leads by example both academically and athletically, and she steps up and makes the most of every opportunity.”
Perhaps Lubinsky’s greatest asset is her discipline. “The intensity of the curriculum in the business school really helped me develop as a student. It gave me discipline, which is a skill I’m very happy to have learned. I’ll carry it with me through life.”
— Lindsay Newcomer
Categories: Students