As Nino contemplated the transition from junior champion to WTA tour professional her coach was offered a new coaching position in New Jersey. Nino moved with her “second family” to the United States and began competing full-time on the WTA tour.
Tour Life and Competition
Nino’s professional career showed both promise and the brutal competitive reality of the WTA tour. Her best doubles ranking came in 1997, when she reached #111 in the world. Between 1996 and 1999, she won seven ITF tournaments, competing at Peachtree City, Roanoke, Phoenix, Bordeaux, Ain El Soukdno, Ismailis, and Sezza.
Being on court at the next level up brought some painful lessons. Nino describes playing against Martina Hingis as “torture”. Her description: “Hingis had unreal touch, she runs you like crazy - she is just placing the ball on the lines while you are sweating and working so hard. All the while she is smiling and appearing to have an easy time of it. She sees the ball so early, her anticipation was a gift that was off the charts. She was always on top of the ball so early, returning it almost before you are ready”.
Roland Garros, France 1994
Professional tennis also offered a lighter side - the rituals of elite athletes. Nino smiles as she recalls Mary Pierce spending 30 minutes in her pre-match routine, putting her hair in a ponytail, taking it down, putting it up again, taking it down again—an endless loop of nervous energy channeled into grooming. She saw Anna Kournikova repeatedly ask seamstresses at the majors to make her dresses shorter. They would shorten them, and Kournikova would ask for shorter still.
Professionalism also brought perks, especially at major tournaments where new collections of practice clothes, match clothes, rackets, and equipment appeared four or five times a year. Players checked huge bags on planes—bags full of shoes and rackets, so many things her fellow junior players only dreamed of growing up in Georgia.
When asked about her favorite shot, Nino glows about the midcourt swinging volley, a shot we’d all love to hit like a pro!