Elbaba enters Tinsley Classic looking for a breakthrough

Collins’ win catapulted her into the top 50 in the world.

Elbaba, who played ahead of Collins in the University of Virginia singles lineup for two of their three years together, is still looking for her own signature win.

The 23-year-old doesn’t believe she’s far off.

“Just seeing how she’s doing is more of an indicator than ever that I can do it, too,” Elbaba said. “There’s no reason why I can’t. We were always neck and neck in college and were the two best players on the team. Knowing that makes me feel like I can do it if I just find the right tools and coaches and resources that bring out the best in me.”

And therein lies the challenge.

It’s one that most players trying to make it on the pro tour face: Finances.

Or, to be more precise, lack thereof.

The pro tour is the ultimate catch 22. Being on it requires players — oftentimes ones who don’t have a lot of economic backing — to earn points. But to earn points, players have to finance their own world tours — with coaches in tow.

“Honestly, you can’t make it just going by yourself,” Elbaba said. “You need to have a coach, and the amount of money that coaches want — it’s unaffordable. It’s really difficult because it’s a year-round thing. Our offseason is really just a month. We’re competing 11 months of the year, which is crazy.”

This week, the former four-time-time All-American — who was granted a main-draw wild card by Tournament Director Ron Manilla — enters the Tinsley ranked 476th.

“I love Charlottesville,” said Elbaba, whose 133 singles wins are more than any player in Virginia women’s tennis history. “It’s like home to me. I have amazing memories here.”

Elbaba, whose parents have been footing all of her expenses, said she is actively seeking a sponsor.

“Having that financial support would be huge,” Elbaba said. “You can go out there and not feel like you have to play to eat.”

Elbaba said her parents tell her that they saved money because she was on scholarship when she was at UVa. Still, having to lean on them so heavily weighs on her.

“It makes me feel so bad,” she said. “I’m spending all their money, basically.”

Players who are ranked outside of the top 100 and who don’t consistently get to play in the grand slams struggle to break even, according to numerous studies.

In 2017, Collins, a two-time NCAA champion, was awarded a $100,000 prize from the computer technology company Oracle to use toward her career. That’s not to say Collins’ ascension to the upper echelon of the tennis was because of the windfall — she has scored a number of huge wins since then — but it certainly didn’t hurt.

Elbaba has certainly shown she can hang with the best in the sport. She has a half-dozen victories over players who ranked inside the top 100, including a pair of wins over former top-50 opponents.

Elbaba rose to a career-high No. 372 in the world last July before suffering a broken right hand during training that set her back.

“It’s been difficult,” she said. “Every day I question whether I’m in the right field and if I’m supposed to be playing. But knowing I have my UVa degree really does help at the end of the day. They always say it’s something you can fall back on, but I think it’s something you can fall forward on, too. I like that line better.”

Elbaba, who consults when she can by phone with former Virginia coaches Mark Guilbeau and Troy Porco (“They know me better than anyone,” she said), loves tennis too much to give up anytime soon.

In recent years, there’s been a shift within the sport. Many of the best players on tour are now in their late 20s and even older — so Elbaba believes she has nowhere to go but up.

“Right now, I do feel like I’m getting better,” she said. “I feel like sometimes I play better in practice than my matches — so that just shows me that I need to keep plugging away and that it will all come together at some point. I just need opportunity and luck to match up to create a good moment for me.”