One of the great things about being a kid is you’re allowed to have big-time dreams. And Isabella Miller is dreaming as big as it gets.
“My dream goal is to make it to the U.S. Open,” the Pennington resident said, “And be the next Serena Williams.”
That’s quite a mark to shoot for, but Miller is off to an awesome start so far.
The 10-year-old Stony Brook Elementary School student just began playing USTA tournaments on July 1. Since then, she has gone 40-6 and won seven of the 13 tournaments she entered. Miller has reached the finals nine times, and gotten to the semifinals the other four times.
As far as rankings, she is among the top ranked New Jersey 10-and-under and No. 2 in Middle States 10-and-under, which includes Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and parts of West Virginia and Maryland. Due to her success at the 10U level, her dad/coach Seth began playing her up at 12-and-under, where she now ranks No. 9 in District New Jersey and No. 38 in Middle States.
Simply speaking, it’s been an incredible run in a very short time.
“I am very surprised,” Miller said. “I didn’t think I’d get this far in tennis. I feel very proud of myself and excited.”
Her success has been a mixture of dedication and enjoyment.
“She works very hard on the court but she has fun, which is really important,” said Seth Miller, who is director of tennis at Nassau Racquet Club. “I didn’t realize that she wanted to play tournaments until this spring, when she kept asking me to put her in a tournament. I didn’t know how she would do. I didn’t know how good the kids were that were playing tournaments, because usually those are the real serious ones and they’re all very good.”
As it turns out, so is Isabella. After winning three tournaments at 10-and-under, she moved up and proceeded to win four of the first five tournaments she played in 12-and-unders.
“She loves it and every week she says, ‘Put me in another tournament,” Seth said. “I think her results are incredible.”
Miller comes from a tennis-playing family. Her grandparents were top-ranked players in Pittsburgh. Seth was the No. 1 player for his college team, West Liberty State in West Virginia, where he received a full scholarship. He has also coached some top-flight players over the years.
Her mom, Sara, also plays, while older brother Chase is on the Hopewell Valley Central High JV team.
Seth took Bella to Nassau Racquet Club when she was 3, and a love affair bloomed.
“I noticed she was a pretty good athlete,” Seth said. “And she had pretty good eye-hand coordination.”
The NRC is a family-owned business in Skillman run by the Camper family, and Miller immediately felt the familial bond while playing there.
“I feel like part of the family at Nassau and very comfortable there,” she said. “The owners (Benton Camper Jr., Cari Camper) treat me like I’m their own daughter. Tennis has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up playing at Nassau Racquet club and it’s like a second home to me. I’ve always been comfortable on the tennis court even when I was four years old.”
After six years of playing for fun and learning her craft, Miller decided it was time to see what she could do under the pressure of competition.
“I wanted to start playing tournaments because of my friends from clinics,” she said. “Some of them started playing them and I thought ‘If they can, why can’t I?’’’
In her first official match at Arrowhead Tennis Club in Medford, Miller reached the finals. She then lost in the semifinals at Centercourt in Lawrence before breaking through for her first victory at Legacy Youth Tennis in Philadelphia. That started a three-match winning streak.
Bella’s favorite win came in Cherry Hill, where she won her first 12-and-under tournament. “It was special to me because my grandparents were there to watch,” she said.
Miller’s regiment includes one lesson a week with her dad, although Seth said that all of the 20 pros at NRC have worked with Isabella at one point.
“She’s got knowledge from almost every pro at our club, and I would say that that has been amazing,” Seth said. “In the summer she was playing six hours a day at summer camp and then played tournaments on the weekends.
“With school, she’s only able to play four days a week at the club in clinics and then plays tournaments on the weekends. But she’s still able to keep her game up playing less than she does in the summer. Her mom takes her to some tournaments when I can’t go and does an amazing job of keeping her focused. She deserves a lot of credit also.”
It’s all part of the funfest when it comes to tennis in the Miller home.
“Playing tennis as a family has brought us closer together,” Isabella said. “We like when we have family battles on the tennis court. We sometimes go to the courts and play games against each other for bragging rights.”
And although things have gotten more serious for Miller over the past five months, the enjoyment remains the same.
“It’s always fun for me,” she said. “But I sometimes get nervous and angry when I see my opponent celebrating after they win a point. That makes me feel pressure, but it’s always fun.”
Bella said she enjoys everything about the sport, “especially winning,” and feels her strengths are her volleys and overhead shots. Seth sees an intangible strength that helps make a difference.
“I’m surprised how mentally tough she is on the tennis court,” he said. “You can’t really teach that. I know she’s a good athlete. That was the easy part. But she really works hard so I’m surprised with some things but not that surprised with others.”
The one concern parents often have in individual sports like tennis or swimming, is that their child may burn out too quickly and lose interest by high school. Seth doesn’t see that as an issue since Bella has started her competitive career relatively late compared to other players.
“I taught a kid years ago that was number one in the country in the 12 and under and he did burn out because he started playing so seriously at five years old,” Seth Miller said. “The good thing about Isabella is she started early enough but she didn’t get real serious until she was 10. I think we handled her situation perfectly. She wants to play, whereas the top junior that I was teaching back in the 90s didn’t want to play because I think he started to play too seriously too early.”
Judging by her success and her continuing zeal to play, Isabella appears to be right where she should be.
Isabella Miller, 10, has gone 40-6 in USTA tennis tournaments since entering her first one in July.,
