Can a tennis star learn to play the sport backwards? A French Open wild card may be the answer

Jermaine Jenkins, a former hitting partner for Venus Williams who has been a national development coach at the U.S. Tennis Association since 2019, has seen a lot of young, promising talent the past seven years. He still remembers the moment that he first saw Akasha Urhobo.It was 2022, at a small tournament in Florence, S.C. on the ITF World Tennis Tour, about three rungs down from the WTA Tour. Urhobo, who had come to the tournament from her home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was 15.Advertisement