{"id":740493,"date":"2026-07-03T08:06:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T08:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/740493\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T08:06:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T08:06:12","slug":"from-juniors-to-the-prose-with-claire-liu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/740493\/","title":{"rendered":"From Juniors to the Prose, With Claire Liu"},"content":{"rendered":"

WIMBLEDON, England \u2014 Bounces wasn\u2019t the first Substack about tennis, but it has grown into the biggest by a few metrics in its first 21 months of existence. I\u2019m very grateful for the loyal readership I\u2019ve built here at Bounces and how it continues growing\u2014thanks often to you fine folks telling new people to check it out. <\/p>\n

Share<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m also happy to see how this new category of media is meaningfully gaining traction. One cool marker of the progress: for the first time this year on the U.S. Open media application, \u201cSubstack\u201d was listed on the dropdown menu of media categories, alongside considerably more established types like \u201cRadio\u201d and \u201cNewspaper.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are a few other Substackers here in the Wimbledon press room, including Carole Bouchard<\/a>, Chris Clarey<\/a>, Jessica Schiffer of Hard Court<\/a> (where Bounces<\/a> readers can still get a discount for a few more days<\/a>), and Simon Cambers, the newest on the block<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But more than the numbers in the press room, this Wimbledon has brought a different sort of milestone for Substack\u2019s tennis footprint: for the first time, there\u2019s an active tennis Substacker playing in the third round of a major: Claire Liu, whose <\/a>Finding Claire-ity<\/a> launched in 2023, predating Bounces by more than a year.<\/p>\n

Because I knew I wanted to write about Liu as a player-writer at Bounces some time this year, I went to her court during the first round of Wimbledon qualifying last week to snap a few photos of her. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Claire Liu, down a break point early on at Wimbledon qualifying. (Photo by Ben Rothenberg for Bounces)<\/p>\n

As inevitably happens at qualifying\u2014where there were only some single-digit number of people watching her match\u2014Liu quickly spotted me on the side of the court. After she dropped her opening service game, I decided to leave, conscious of potentially distracting her.<\/p>\n

When we caught up later in the media tent she joked that when she saw me she was worried I was going to want to interview her after she lost, which she would\u2019ve been in no mood for.<\/p>\n

As most media requests at qualifying are, my ask for Liu was win-only. And happily, she won swiftly after I left: 6-2, 6-1 over Despina Papamichail. <\/p>\n

To me, it wasn\u2019t hugely surprising to see Liu rolling on the grass: she\u2019d been a junior champion at Wimbledon, after all, winning the title here nine years ago. When Liu won in 2017\u2014beating Ann Li in a historic all-Asian-American final on No. 1 Court\u2014she was the first American to win the Wimbledon girls\u2019 singles title since Chanda Rubin in 1992. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Surely the grass must still give her confidence, I suggested?<\/p>\n

\u201dI feel like a lot of people have said that to me, and I just don\u2019t feel it at all,\u201d Liu said after that opening qualifying win. \u201cYeah, it\u2019s been three years since I played here; I haven\u2019t really felt that comfortable, honestly. So I was a little worried going into this, just because I haven\u2019t gotten many matches in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the 146th-ranked Liu has kept winning on the lawns since we spoke, reeling off two more wins to qualify and then another two wins in the main draw of Wimbledon to reach the third round of women\u2019s singles at a major for the first time. <\/p>\n

For Liu, who turned 26 in May, that milestone coming so relatively late in her pro career hasn\u2019t been easy. Junior success, as I\u2019ve written about before at <\/a>Bounces<\/a>, is hardly any guarantee of a world-beating professional career.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Former Child Stars Auditioning for the Biggest Stage in Tennis<\/a>\"\"<\/a>ALL CAPS marks girls who went on to win major titles in women\u2019s singles; gold if they won their women\u2019s singles major at the same tournament.<\/p>\n

For Liu, whose career-best WTA ranking so far was 52nd in early 2023, having her name on the wall at Wimbledon\u2014where it is currently somewhat hidden behind an Evian counter\u2014has sometimes led to mixed feelings that she\u2019s trying to distill into something more positive. <\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m learning to have more gratitude for it,\u201d Liu said of her junior triumph. \u201cIt\u2019s not that like I\u2019ve looked on it like with a sour taste, but I\u2019ve wished that my professional career could match, you know, what I did in the juniors. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s been helpful having people around me being like, \u2018No, you can look back on it with something to be proud of. And even though maybe you aren\u2019t content with the way things are going, it\u2019s not something that\u2019s to compare to.\u2019 Because I think I do that a lot. I also look back on, \u2018Oh, when I was top-100\u2026\u2019\u2014and it\u2019s not helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Self-doubt is part of being a tennis player, and it\u2019s also part of being a writer. Liu\u2019s current joint pursuits have her doing double duty on doubts. When I told her I enjoyed her writing, she expressed immediate disbelief.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh gosh, really?\u201d Liu said. <\/p>\n

For Liu, writing was the outlet she landed on when seeking intellectual stimulation during the often monotonous life of a tennis player.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first started, I remember I just felt like I needed to do something,\u201d she said. \u201cI know a lot of people get their degree and stuff, but I just really don\u2019t want to do any more school. I journal a lot, and I liked the idea of writing and putting something out, so I decided to bite the bullet and do it. I didn\u2019t know how it was going to be, but it\u2019s been good. It\u2019s been hard to consistently put out stuff like I\u2019ve seen you and Andrea [Petkovic]<\/a> do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petkovic is indeed a machine on Substack, with a deeply Germanic strict regimen of putting out a new post on Finite Jest<\/a> every Friday. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so impressive, and she writes so well,\u201d Liu said of Petkovic. \u201cAnd I\u2019m putting out one like every six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liu usually isn\u2019t quite that sporadic; she averages slightly more than a post every two months. But as I told her\u2014and meant: \u201cBut when I see one from you come in, I know it\u2019s because you have something to say: quality over quantity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely don\u2019t have a lack of ideas,\u201d Liu replied. \u201cI think it\u2019s just a good challenge for me. I mean, even this week I\u2019ve had three or four ideas, but it\u2019s a lot harder making it into something.\u201d <\/p>\n

Liu\u2019s most recent post<\/a>, which came out the week before Wimbledon qualifying, was one she\u2019d been working on since February, inspired by watching Ilia Malinin during the Milan-Cortina Olympics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote, like, 10 full pages worth of things,\u201d Liu said, annoyed with herself. \u201cIt\u2019s word vomiting, and so when I write I\u2019m trying to whittle things down into something more coherent. Hopefully the more I do it, the more fine-tuned I can get in a process.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when she finished the piece, she stuck the landings better than Malinin did on that fateful day.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I learn more about myself I\u2019ve recognized that not only am I looking for a sense of accomplishment, I\u2019m searching for a sense of belonging,\u201d Liu wrote<\/a>. \u201cThat maybe the more I win, the more I\u2019ll feel accepted. But it\u2019s actually in the losses that we see connection and humanity. When you see yourself in others\u2019 heartbreak and devastation, and can relate to the emotion and turmoil someone else may be feeling\u2026So when I say I like seeing other people\u2019s failures, I guess I just mean I like feeling a little less alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like her tennis when it\u2019s at its best, Liu\u2019s writing is often brave and bracing. Most searingly, she wrote a post in June 2025 called \u201cAsian Invasion\u201d<\/a> about her history of experiencing discrimination in tennis.<\/p>\n

There were times I didn\u2019t want to be Asian.<\/p>\n

That sounds harsh, I know. But what I mean is\u2014there have been times when being Asian has made things noticeably harder. And in those moments, I\u2019ve caught myself wishing I wasn\u2019t. Not because I\u2019m ashamed, but because I knew that what I was going through was unfair.<\/p>\n

Like every time I\u2019ve been mistaken for Ann Li or Carol Zhao or Danielle Lao or any other Asian tennis player. Or when I went to the ITF World Junior Tennis Finals to represent the U.S. and someone called us the \u201cOriental team\u201d because two out of three of us were Asian. Or when a tennis player started calling me \u201cSai Sai,\u201d because there was another Chinese tennis player with that name and I guess we\u2019re all the same. Or more recently, when the tournament staff couldn\u2019t find my check-in folder, kept pointing to a different Asian name and joking, \u201cPretty close though, huh?\u201d\u2014only to find out it was mine, just mislabeled.<\/p>\n

Earlier last year, Liu wrote a post called \u201cI hate grand slams,\u201d<\/a> where she wrote about how there\u2019s an \u201congoing battle in my head\u201d about whether believing in her chances of making her dreams come true is delusional or not:<\/p>\n

My track record at grand slams hasn\u2019t been something to write home about. I\u2019ve been fortunate to play main draw and win a round in every one. But after years of that being all I have to show for, it\u2019s safe to say that my grand slam performances have been subpar. Which is why I find it mind boggling that every time I play a slam I still manage to think, \u201cthis is my chance to win one\u201d. It doesn\u2019t matter whether I\u2019m 50 in the world or the last person in qualifying, in my head there\u2019s always a path to the end of the rainbow.<\/p>\n

This time, the path has taken her to the third round, further along the rainbow than she\u2019s ever been. And for the first time since winning that girls\u2019 final in 2017, it\u2019s taken Liu back to Wimbledon\u2019s No. 1 Court, where she will face another junior champion\u2014whose creative online outlet, we recently learned, is making anime supercuts: Coco Gauff.<\/p>\n

You can subscribe to Claire Liu\u2019s Substack<\/a> here:<\/p>\n

For more on Liu, this was a nice piece on her in <\/a>The Los Angeles Times<\/a> by Doug Robson<\/a>, whom it\u2019s been fun seeing back on the tennis beat a bit this year.<\/p>\n

In addition to Claire Liu vs. Coco Gauff, which is third after 1 p.m. on No. 1 Court, here are my picks for the best matches to watch on Friday at Wimbledon as the third round gets underway.<\/p>\n

To read the rest, please become a paid subscriber to Bounces! -Ben<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WIMBLEDON, England \u2014 Bounces wasn\u2019t the first Substack about tennis, but it has grown into the biggest by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":740494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":["post-740493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}