Chantajah Mills Ready to Take The Next Step In Her Career
Earlier this spring, the top junior tennis players from across New York City competed at the annual Mayor Dinkins Cup at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning, the flagship home of the New York Junior Tennis & Learning organization. The Mayor Dinkins Cup is the largest interscholastic tennis competition in the country, an event that the city’s tennis players take great pride in.
For Chantajah Mills, a rising senior, the tournament meant a lot more than it normally did. For one, she trains at the Cary Leeds Center for her private practice and has been a part of NYJTL programs since she was a little kid, but also because she was still working her way back from a difficult injury she suffered in a freak accident. Mills was playing in a softball game, and felt her knee pop while rounding second base. While she would go on to score on the play, she later found out she broke her kneecap in half.
“That tournament was really important for me because I hadn’t played a lot of matches leading up to that, and wasn’t sure how my body would respond,” said Mills.
Mills would go on to win both the Girls’ Varsity Singles and Girls’ Varsity Doubles titles, pairing with Jade Saintard for the latter one.
“Being able to play multiple good matches in a row was a huge confidence booster for me,” she said. “And it was great to be able to win the doubles with one of my best friends, that meant a lot.”
The victories were meaningful to Mills both in the sense that she won multiple titles on her home courts, doing so with a friend, but also because it signified she was recovered from her injury, a key factor as she approaches her senior season.
Mills has dreams of playing collegiate tennis and is currently deep in the recruiting process, talking with different coaches and various programs as she aims to play Division I tennis next fall. It would be the next step in a journey that began many years ago when she first began playing tennis, although her love for the sport was not something that happened right away.
Growing up with an older sister, Mills began playing tennis when she was about three-years-old because her sister was a player. Mills’ sister would beat up on her on the court while playing, which resulted in Chantajah disliking tennis at the onset.
But when her younger brother was born, as she says:
“Now I had somebody I could beat in tennis, and that got me to begin playing more and taking it more seriously. As I played more I really started to love it and wanted to stick with it.”
Mills continued to improve, and took part in multiple programs and lessons through the NYJTL. Family and tennis are two things that go hand–in-hand for Mills, and her parents and siblings have been incredibly supportive to her during her tennis journey.
A few years ago, she began training exclusively at the Cary Leeds Center where she quickly became one of the top players in its Academy.
“I love training at Cary Leeds Center, the coaches there have helped my game so much. I have learned a lot about tennis in terms of strategy and point construction, that is one area they have helped me with tremendously, just understanding how to use your shots throughout a point to make your opponent uncomfortable. It’s about being a player and not a hitter.”
That work and improvement has paid off as Mills is one of the top-ranked players in her age group in the country, and as she continues to get back to feeling 100 percent, she will only continue to get better.
This year, she was named one of the USTA Eastern’s Tennis Ambassadors, a distinction given to a few junior players in the Eastern Section who represent our area and the sport of tennis in the right way, both on and off the court.
“I began tagging USTA Eastern on my tennis posts on Instagram, and they asked me to be one of their ambassadors, and it was such a cool honor to receive,” said Mills. “It’s our job to help promote tennis and represent Eastern, not just by winning matches but also showing sportsmanship and being good role models for younger players.”
Mills is now excited for what lies ahead as she approaches the fall and winter months. With the ability to play more matches now that she is healthy, she has goals of getting her ranking up as well as communicating with college programs across the country. After winning a recent L5 Girls 18s singles title, she posted on Instagram with the caption:
“I just want to say thank you for all the doctors, physical therapists, coaches, friends and my parents who have helped and supported me through this long recovery. Without any of you I definitely wouldn’t be where I am right now. This time last year, I didn’t know if I was physically capable of playing high-level tennis again, but here I am. This is the only the start and I’m happy to have had another great tournament.”
She is certainly back to playing high-level tennis, and it’s that humility and recognition of those who have helped her throughout her journey that makes Mills not only a special tennis player, but a special person. That, combined with her immense talent and dedication to getting better, make her a highly-sought after recruit, and someone who will be an asset to any team or college she decides to attend next fall.
