University of North Carolina Athletics
GoHeels Exclusive: Loeb's Life After UNC
March 14, 2019 | Women's Tennis, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
Almost four years removed from capping her two-year North Carolina women's tennis career by becoming the program's first NCAA singles champion, Jamie Loeb is now in her fourth full season on the WTA Tour.
Loeb, who posted an 84-9 singles record at UNC, is currently No. 219 in the WTA rankings. On Monday, it was announced that she was a recipient of the third annual Oracle US Tennis Awards, a $100,000 grant given to one male and one female professional tennis player to help develop their tennis careers.
As part of Carolina's celebration of Women's History Month, Loeb spoke with GoHeels.com's Pat James last week about her time at UNC and how it's benefited her professional career.Â
Q: Was there ever a point during the early stages of your tennis career that you realized playing professionally would be a possibility?
Jamie Loeb: I think I believed that when I was around 13 or 14. Actually, even later than that. Maybe even 14 or 15 I was like, 'I think I can do this at some point.' I didn't know if I wanted to do it before school, during school, after school. I definitely had people around me giving me the confidence that I could turn pro before going to college. I was conflicted, but ultimately I made the best decision to go to UNC, even though those two years went by really fast. I think that was a great steppingstone in my career.
Q: What went into that decision to play college tennis instead of going pro right away?
JL: Getting an education is huge, and you can't really take that for granted. And just in general, my parents can't afford to pay for four full years of school. So getting that college scholarship was really important. I think maturity-wise, physically and overall just to have that college experience and have that normalcy just because tennis players, we don't really get to be normal and have a normal lifestyle. We're always on the road and away from home. So I kind of developed a little family at UNC. Most of my best friends are from school, so I'm really grateful for the opportunity.
Q: What led you to UNC?
JL: I didn't really know where I wanted to go. It's not like I had a dream school that I always dreamt of going to. My sister (Jenna Loeb) – she played for Wake Forest and is nine years older – she knew all the coaches. She actually reached out to Sara Anundsen, who was my assistant coach my freshman year. I believe her and Jenna are one year apart, so they knew each other pretty well. She asked her if they had any interest in me and they had no idea that I was interested. They actually thought I was going to be going to Michigan because the Michigan coach was watching a lot of my matches. So they had no idea.Â
Because of my sister, they got in contact with me, I got in contact with them and we set up a visit. My sister came with me on the visit, and I really fell in love with the school. My big thing was getting along with the coaches and my teammates, and the girls were absolutely awesome and I couldn't have asked for better teammates. Everything just fell into place.
Q: How much did you enjoy playing within the team concept of college tennis? What did you take away from that?
JL: I look back on those days because it gets pretty lonely out here being by yourself, playing for yourself. I don't always have a coach with me or someone traveling with me. And being at UNC and being a part of a team, you always have someone next to you, by you, all the time, and it's very comforting. It's really nice to have that and be in that comfortable environment. And then in professional tennis, you're by yourself and you're doing everything alone.Â
I've gotten more independent; I think being in school taught me independence, as well. I struggled a little bit in the beginning accepting the fact that, 'This is all you. You're on your own.' Even this fall, there were two tournaments where I was by myself in Europe and I was the only American there. So that was pretty tough for me. I'm just grateful that I had that opportunity to be a part of a team and to have those friendships. A lot of my teammates, they know what I'm going through now and I'll reach out to them just for overall support and a pick-me-up. So that's nice having my teammates to go back to.
Q: What do you remember most from that match to win the NCAA singles title?
JL: That whole tournament itself, I think there's only one match that didn't go three sets. Every match was a battle. … Carol Zhao, who I beat in the finals, I'm good friends with her. I'll play against her on tour. I've roomed with her. We're good friends. But that was definitely a memorable match. Besides the fact that right after, like two minutes after we finished, we had to go seek shelter for a tornado warning in the area. So that was memorable. It was just a sense of relief.
Q: Aside from that, what's one of your other favorite memories?
JL: Obviously, winning NCAAs was probably my best memory, but the one that I think could potentially mean even more to me was when we beat Stanford my freshman year to make it into the finals of the NCAAs and it came down to my match. I had a feeling it was going to come down to my match, honestly, when it was like 3-0 in the first set. I was looking at the scoreboard when Brian (Kalbas) always tells us not to, but I was like, 'I just want to know what's going on.' And I just had a feeling it was going to come down to me. I lost the first set 7-6, and then I won 6-0, 6-0, which is pretty unheard of. There were actually people afterward who were like, 'We knew you were going to win -0, -0.' And I was like, 'There's not a chance you could've called that. I couldn't even have called that.' So that was probably one of the best moments of my college career.
Q: How do you feel like your game grew the most during your two years in Chapel Hill?
JL: I think I learned a lot about myself and kind of what I wanted to do, like what type of player I wanted to be. And just physically, getting stronger. Prior to school, I didn't do a whole lot of hard training on the physical side. It was just developing myself in all different aspects. And just the help of Brian, Sara, Courtney (Nagle), they did a great job. I would go in for individuals to work with them. It was tough because I was used to and I'm used to now training a lot more and having that flexibility with time. But in school, you're only allowed a certain amount of time and can only fit everything in in a time crunch. I tried my best to make use out of my time and balance my life out as much as I could.
Q: What led to the decision to turn pro when you did?
JL: Winning NCAAs because that was a good opportunity for me. I knew there was a good chance I'd get a wild card into the U.S. Open. For money purposes and overall recognition, that was a big moment for me. I didn't turn pro until I knew I got a wild card into the U.S. Open. So that was the biggest factor.
Q: What would you consider the highlight of your pro career thus far?
JL: I've had ups and downs. I've won some singles titles and doubles titles. But I think being at all the Grand Slams, being very close to the main draw, I made the main draw at the U.S. Open when I just turned pro, which is probably a highlight. The match didn't go as well as I wanted it to, but it was an incredible experience – my pro debut, playing against Caroline Wozniacki. Playing Wozniacki at Arthur Ashe (Stadium), that's one way to make a debut. But just being able to travel to some of the best places around the world, it's not always glamorous but going to the Grand Slams and being around the best of the best, it's pretty awesome. I made the last round of qualifying the past three Grand Slams, which has been pretty tough on me knowing I was one step from making the main draw. But overall, I think each day I'm learning more and more about myself and about the process.
Q: What lessons do you still hold on to and use everyday that you took away from Coach Kalbas and your time here?
JL: Brian always believed in recruiting people for, yes, their talent, but also making sure they stayed true to their values, and he recruited them as a person. I kind of believe in that – just being true to yourself, being humble, going about your business. … I've always been a hard worker, and college taught me to be even more disciplined with my time management. I always did a good job with that, but even more so. And also just believing in myself. Brian always instilled a lot of confidence in me and the team, and he's always wanted the best. I'm always in touch with him, not as much as I would like to be because we both have busy schedules. But it's nice hearing from him from time to time when I'm doing well or struggling.
Q: Did you complete your degree, or are you working toward it?
JL: I'm working toward it, actually. I'm in the process. I want to take a summer class. I took one class online two springs ago, I want to say. … So, I'm in the process of it. It's not easy. The registration process is not easy, as well. I was going to take one in the fall, but time-wise, things weren't getting in in time. So I'm like, 'OK, I'll try again in the spring.' So I'm in the works of that, and I do want to complete my degree and I do want to get it from UNC because that would just be a huge accomplishment for me. Since I started there, I would love to finish it there.
Q: How closely do you follow the program?
JL: Oh, very closely. If I'm not specifically watching, I'm watching the Twitter updates. I remember at ITA Indoors (in February) I was getting so nervous. I'm so superstitious that I wasn't watching the live video. I was just refreshing the Twitter. … Hayley (Carter) being one of my closest friends, she'll give me updates when I see her on the road. So I'm very much connected.
Q: Not that UNC wasn't successful before your freshman season here, but what has it been like watching the program over these last six years emerge into this national power?
JL: It's incredible to see that. Brian works so hard and deserves a lot of credit for what he does. I feel like some people might overlook him and think they can step on him, but he can hold his ground. He's proven that this program is a powerhouse. We are definitely national championship worthy. I know we've won ITA Indoors and ACCs. But I know we can definitely win an NCAA championship. Brian has done an amazing job with the program.
Â
Almost four years removed from capping her two-year North Carolina women's tennis career by becoming the program's first NCAA singles champion, Jamie Loeb is now in her fourth full season on the WTA Tour.
Loeb, who posted an 84-9 singles record at UNC, is currently No. 219 in the WTA rankings. On Monday, it was announced that she was a recipient of the third annual Oracle US Tennis Awards, a $100,000 grant given to one male and one female professional tennis player to help develop their tennis careers.
As part of Carolina's celebration of Women's History Month, Loeb spoke with GoHeels.com's Pat James last week about her time at UNC and how it's benefited her professional career.Â
Q: Was there ever a point during the early stages of your tennis career that you realized playing professionally would be a possibility?
Jamie Loeb: I think I believed that when I was around 13 or 14. Actually, even later than that. Maybe even 14 or 15 I was like, 'I think I can do this at some point.' I didn't know if I wanted to do it before school, during school, after school. I definitely had people around me giving me the confidence that I could turn pro before going to college. I was conflicted, but ultimately I made the best decision to go to UNC, even though those two years went by really fast. I think that was a great steppingstone in my career.
Q: What went into that decision to play college tennis instead of going pro right away?
JL: Getting an education is huge, and you can't really take that for granted. And just in general, my parents can't afford to pay for four full years of school. So getting that college scholarship was really important. I think maturity-wise, physically and overall just to have that college experience and have that normalcy just because tennis players, we don't really get to be normal and have a normal lifestyle. We're always on the road and away from home. So I kind of developed a little family at UNC. Most of my best friends are from school, so I'm really grateful for the opportunity.
Q: What led you to UNC?
JL: I didn't really know where I wanted to go. It's not like I had a dream school that I always dreamt of going to. My sister (Jenna Loeb) – she played for Wake Forest and is nine years older – she knew all the coaches. She actually reached out to Sara Anundsen, who was my assistant coach my freshman year. I believe her and Jenna are one year apart, so they knew each other pretty well. She asked her if they had any interest in me and they had no idea that I was interested. They actually thought I was going to be going to Michigan because the Michigan coach was watching a lot of my matches. So they had no idea.Â
Because of my sister, they got in contact with me, I got in contact with them and we set up a visit. My sister came with me on the visit, and I really fell in love with the school. My big thing was getting along with the coaches and my teammates, and the girls were absolutely awesome and I couldn't have asked for better teammates. Everything just fell into place.
Q: How much did you enjoy playing within the team concept of college tennis? What did you take away from that?
JL: I look back on those days because it gets pretty lonely out here being by yourself, playing for yourself. I don't always have a coach with me or someone traveling with me. And being at UNC and being a part of a team, you always have someone next to you, by you, all the time, and it's very comforting. It's really nice to have that and be in that comfortable environment. And then in professional tennis, you're by yourself and you're doing everything alone.Â
I've gotten more independent; I think being in school taught me independence, as well. I struggled a little bit in the beginning accepting the fact that, 'This is all you. You're on your own.' Even this fall, there were two tournaments where I was by myself in Europe and I was the only American there. So that was pretty tough for me. I'm just grateful that I had that opportunity to be a part of a team and to have those friendships. A lot of my teammates, they know what I'm going through now and I'll reach out to them just for overall support and a pick-me-up. So that's nice having my teammates to go back to.
Q: What do you remember most from that match to win the NCAA singles title?
JL: That whole tournament itself, I think there's only one match that didn't go three sets. Every match was a battle. … Carol Zhao, who I beat in the finals, I'm good friends with her. I'll play against her on tour. I've roomed with her. We're good friends. But that was definitely a memorable match. Besides the fact that right after, like two minutes after we finished, we had to go seek shelter for a tornado warning in the area. So that was memorable. It was just a sense of relief.
Q: Aside from that, what's one of your other favorite memories?
JL: Obviously, winning NCAAs was probably my best memory, but the one that I think could potentially mean even more to me was when we beat Stanford my freshman year to make it into the finals of the NCAAs and it came down to my match. I had a feeling it was going to come down to my match, honestly, when it was like 3-0 in the first set. I was looking at the scoreboard when Brian (Kalbas) always tells us not to, but I was like, 'I just want to know what's going on.' And I just had a feeling it was going to come down to me. I lost the first set 7-6, and then I won 6-0, 6-0, which is pretty unheard of. There were actually people afterward who were like, 'We knew you were going to win -0, -0.' And I was like, 'There's not a chance you could've called that. I couldn't even have called that.' So that was probably one of the best moments of my college career.
Q: How do you feel like your game grew the most during your two years in Chapel Hill?
JL: I think I learned a lot about myself and kind of what I wanted to do, like what type of player I wanted to be. And just physically, getting stronger. Prior to school, I didn't do a whole lot of hard training on the physical side. It was just developing myself in all different aspects. And just the help of Brian, Sara, Courtney (Nagle), they did a great job. I would go in for individuals to work with them. It was tough because I was used to and I'm used to now training a lot more and having that flexibility with time. But in school, you're only allowed a certain amount of time and can only fit everything in in a time crunch. I tried my best to make use out of my time and balance my life out as much as I could.
Q: What led to the decision to turn pro when you did?
JL: Winning NCAAs because that was a good opportunity for me. I knew there was a good chance I'd get a wild card into the U.S. Open. For money purposes and overall recognition, that was a big moment for me. I didn't turn pro until I knew I got a wild card into the U.S. Open. So that was the biggest factor.
Q: What would you consider the highlight of your pro career thus far?
JL: I've had ups and downs. I've won some singles titles and doubles titles. But I think being at all the Grand Slams, being very close to the main draw, I made the main draw at the U.S. Open when I just turned pro, which is probably a highlight. The match didn't go as well as I wanted it to, but it was an incredible experience – my pro debut, playing against Caroline Wozniacki. Playing Wozniacki at Arthur Ashe (Stadium), that's one way to make a debut. But just being able to travel to some of the best places around the world, it's not always glamorous but going to the Grand Slams and being around the best of the best, it's pretty awesome. I made the last round of qualifying the past three Grand Slams, which has been pretty tough on me knowing I was one step from making the main draw. But overall, I think each day I'm learning more and more about myself and about the process.
Q: What lessons do you still hold on to and use everyday that you took away from Coach Kalbas and your time here?
JL: Brian always believed in recruiting people for, yes, their talent, but also making sure they stayed true to their values, and he recruited them as a person. I kind of believe in that – just being true to yourself, being humble, going about your business. … I've always been a hard worker, and college taught me to be even more disciplined with my time management. I always did a good job with that, but even more so. And also just believing in myself. Brian always instilled a lot of confidence in me and the team, and he's always wanted the best. I'm always in touch with him, not as much as I would like to be because we both have busy schedules. But it's nice hearing from him from time to time when I'm doing well or struggling.
Q: Did you complete your degree, or are you working toward it?
JL: I'm working toward it, actually. I'm in the process. I want to take a summer class. I took one class online two springs ago, I want to say. … So, I'm in the process of it. It's not easy. The registration process is not easy, as well. I was going to take one in the fall, but time-wise, things weren't getting in in time. So I'm like, 'OK, I'll try again in the spring.' So I'm in the works of that, and I do want to complete my degree and I do want to get it from UNC because that would just be a huge accomplishment for me. Since I started there, I would love to finish it there.
Q: How closely do you follow the program?
JL: Oh, very closely. If I'm not specifically watching, I'm watching the Twitter updates. I remember at ITA Indoors (in February) I was getting so nervous. I'm so superstitious that I wasn't watching the live video. I was just refreshing the Twitter. … Hayley (Carter) being one of my closest friends, she'll give me updates when I see her on the road. So I'm very much connected.
Q: Not that UNC wasn't successful before your freshman season here, but what has it been like watching the program over these last six years emerge into this national power?
JL: It's incredible to see that. Brian works so hard and deserves a lot of credit for what he does. I feel like some people might overlook him and think they can step on him, but he can hold his ground. He's proven that this program is a powerhouse. We are definitely national championship worthy. I know we've won ITA Indoors and ACCs. But I know we can definitely win an NCAA championship. Brian has done an amazing job with the program.
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