Junior Player Spotlight: Vivienne Anton, Ross School Tennis Center

Tennis is a complex, difficult sport that requires an array of skills and technique in order to be successful. It’s also a sport that involves many variables that one can not control; your opponent, the weather, injuries and more, are just some of the complications that arise that a player must overcome. The one aspect that is and always will be in the player’s control is their effort and dedication.

It’s a character trait that Vivienne Anton has always possessed and is at the core of who she is as a tennis player.

A 12-year-old junior player at the Ross School Tennis Center who is preparing to enter the eighth grade this fall, Anton is a shining example of the potency of the RSTC programming.

“It’s the effort she puts in, and her commitment to her tennis,” said RSTC Director Richele LeSaldo when asked what makes Anton a special player to work with. “When you get on court with her, you know you are going to get everything she has that day. She is someone who is always thinking about the game, eager to break it down. She knows it’s like a chess match, and adding more tools to her bag will make her a complete player.”

Anton has been training at RSTC since her family moved to East Hampton during COVID when Vivienne was six-years-old. Originally from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Anton began playing tennis with her father when she was four-years-old, and her first real tennis lesson took place in Italy during a family vacation.

But tennis was something she could share with her father and an activity they could do together, and it was during those times that her passion for tennis was formed.

“I really enjoyed connecting with my dad through tennis, and it was a great way to spend time with him,” Anton recalls.

She was also a swimmer and did ice skating, but it was tennis that would stand out most to her in those formative years, and was the sport she wanted to pursue further. She began attending the Ross School when she was in fourth grade, and joined the RSTC to continue her tennis career.

“I started in the Yellow Ball + program, and I remember being the youngest one in it,” said Anton. “The older players were such great mentors though and I really enjoyed that, and it created this really welcoming community to grow up in.”

For the last six years, Anton, who says her favorite players on tour are Jannik Sinner and Elena Rybakina, has been honing her talents in the RSTC pathway and now trains in the high-performance program.

“The coaches here believe in me, and I believe in them,” she said. “I trust them, especially when I see improvement when implementing the things they teach. That trust is very important and I really listen to their coaching.”

As a result Anton has begun to see success in tournaments, even when competing against girls in higher age divisions. Earlier this summer, she captured the title at the L5 Providence Summer Splash in Rhode Island in the Girls 12s division, and recently competed in the Girls 16s division at an L5 event in Amagansett. And while she would fall in a hard-fought third-set tiebreaker in that tournament, it was the kind of performance that validates the work her and the coaches at RSTC are putting in.

“The process is good, and we have no doubt the results will come,” said LeSaldo. “She is on the right path, and she’s committed.”

Anton is a player that considers herself to be a baseliner, anchored by an effective serve that helps her dictate points. In order to bolster her all-around game, she is currently working on getting more comfortable coming to the net and improving things such as her volleys and overheads.

Playing against older girls will prepare her for where she wants to go as a tennis player. As a seventh grader a year ago, she competed on Ross School’s junior varsity team, but has her sights set on being promoted to the varsity team this season.

“I definitely want to make varsity this year, I think I’m ready,” she said. “I would love to be involved with the team, and learn from a lot of the older girls, and then become a mentor to the younger players as I get older. I think the Ross community here is great for that.”

Anton continues to thrive under the Ross School umbrella, and for the last six years she has been growing as a person and a player. She is fully aware of how fortunate she is to attend a school that prides itself in academics and cultural enrichment, while also offering her an opportunity to train with top tennis coaches at a top tennis facility.

“Ross is such a special school, and I feel that every time I walk to class through this beautiful campus,” Anton explained. “There is so much nature to enjoy, the teachers are incredible and supportive, and it’s such a welcoming and helpful community.”

Anton self-describes as an artsy teenager who enjoys musical theatre and reading when she isn’t studying or training for tennis, and she loves spending time with her parents. It is on the tennis court where she feels most comfortable though, which is why she has become a proud representative of what the Ross School is all about.

“One of the goals of our program is to develop champions,” said LeSaldo. “We challenge our student-athletes to be their best and to give of their best every day. As Vivi said, Ross is a special place, full of extremely ambitious and talented students.”