New York Tennis Magazine’s Junior Player Spotlight: Alexa Noel

November 18, 2015 | By Brian Coleman
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New Jersey’s Alexa Noel recently celebrated her 13th birthday, but don’t let that number fool you. Noel is already one of the top juniors in the country, and is striving for more as her young career continues.

Her love and talent for the sport were evident at an early age.

“I started playing tennis in Canada when I was young,” said Noel. “I saw people playing, and I told my dad I wanted to play. We started hitting around at local parks, and then I started to like it more and more, and wanted to get more involved with it.”

Noel was born in Scottsdale, Ariz., but moved to Toronto when she was five-years-old. Her and her family then moved back to the U.S. just a few years ago when she was nine. Just moving to a new town at a young age can be a difficult enough transition, so moving to a new country is a very tough endeavor for a nine-year-old.

“I didn’t know anybody, so it was tough at first,” said Noel. “I also had to find a completely new place to train.”

And she found that place in Centercourt Performance Tennis Academy, where she has trained ever since.

Upon arriving, she worked with Clay Bibbee, CEO and founder of Centercourt Athletic Clubs, but is now coached by Kyle Bailey, Centercourt’s senior director of Performance Tennis, and together, they have helped transform Noel into one of the top juniors in the nation.

“Alexa is a passionate player who competes with tremendous fire,” said Bailey. “What separates Alexa from the competition has been her ability to use a lot of variety and play different styles of the game.”

That fire that she plays with is a necessary trait for the 13-year-old. She frequently plays up an age level, taking on girls who are years older than her, and has found great success in those matches.

“I just try to play my game,” Noel said when asked if she ever feels nervous or pressure playing against top competition at such a young age. “I do get a little nervous, because I know how good they are, and I know I have to play well to beat them, but I try to just relax and play my game.”

Noel has experienced great success already this year, having won four titles overall, including two at the Girl’s 16 Singles level, and won the first Super National of her career at the USTA Girl’s 14 National Clay Court Championships. She won six of the seven matches in that tournament in straight sets, including a 6-4, 6-3 win over Washington, D.C.’s Hailey Baptiste in the finals.

“Clay is one my favorite surfaces to play on,” Noel said. “I am proud of the hard work I put in with my coaches and all of the people who have helped me along the way.”

With all the success she has had already, Noel is still striving to improve upon her game.

Alexa’s primary focus is to continue to be more aggressive and dictate the play in her matches.

“For the last year or so, my coach Kyle [Bailey] and I have worked on coming in more and being more aggressive,” Noel said. “I want to play on the offensive. I just want to keep playing in high level tournaments and get better and better each time around.”

At such a young age, Noel has a promising career ahead of her. As she strives to improve, she will continue to play up in competition, which is only going to help her in the long run.


Brian Coleman

 Brian Coleman is the Senior Editor for New York Tennis Magazine. He may be reached at brianc@usptennis.com

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