Following a strong 2024 season on the ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour, Carson Branstine has picked up where she left off so far this year, adding important milestones to her bank of experience at the pro level.
In February, the 24-year-old reached her first WTA final at the 125 event in Cancun, Mexico, a tournament she wasn’t even going to play until she got a last-minute text message from the Tour supervisor to say she had made into qualifying. The only flight available was a red eye which meant she arrived in Cancun at a 9 a.m. and played and won her qualifying match at 4 p.m. The rest, as they say, is history as she nearly ran the table within a strong field, ultimately finishing as the runner up. Branstine followed up that performance with a title at the ITF W50 event in Santo Domingo, a result that propelled her into the Top 200 on the WTA rankings for the first time.
READ: Carson Branstine’s Tennis Quest has been a Journey of Self-Discovery
Health has been a big part of finding her happiness on court. Now fully recovered from surgeries to both her hips and both her knees, she’s regained full mobility and strength.
“It’s not just about wins all the time,” Branstine explained. I see improvement in my game which is obviously the most important thing. It’s just exciting to play, I’m really looking forward to every tournament and playing every match and I feel even bigger things coming for myself.”
Branstine got her first taste of the big leagues in Indian Wells and Miami. In the California desert, she just missed out on receiving a wild card into qualifying but decided to stick around to practice with some top players and work with Christian Groh, Tommy Haas’ former coach. Her choice paid off as Haas, the Tournament Director of the BNP Paribas Open, offered her the chance to play in their Mixed Doubles Invitational if she was able to find a partner. A convincing elevator pitch in the player dining area to Nikola Mektic, who she had never met before, and just like that, the Canadian’s name was in the draw alongside one of the best doubles players in the world. The pair won their first match and are even in talks to team up again at the Grand Slams.
In Miami, Branstine made her WTA 1000 debut in singles qualifying.
“Getting the opportunity to play in Miami, it was great. You have everything. You have the physios, you have the hotel, you have the food, you have the great practice courts,” Branstine explained. “Of course, the competition is harder but living that life makes things easier because you can just focus on your tennis. I didn’t feel like I was any different from anyone. I was winning some of the practice sets I was playing against top players.”
One of the top players she practiced with was two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova who offered plenty of advice and praised her game. “Getting respect from Hall of Famers and Grand Slam champions, it just affirms that belief and gives you more motivation to keep going,” Branstine added.
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Branstine’s been flying solo since turning pro and she is well aware that she’s going to need help if she wants to be amongst the world’s elite week in and week out. That means finding an agent who’s the right fit and eventually a travelling coach even though she’s had a lot of good voices in her ears over the years, including Noelle Noëlle van Lottum, Tennis Canada’s Head of Women’s Tennis.
“I’ve gotten really far with very little which is great, but I also know that’s not maintainable,” Branstine said. “You have to do it the right way, there’s no cutting corners in this sport. There’s only 100 players in the Top 100, so you have to give your best in every aspect of your career.”
Branstine will soon be able to check another item off her tennis bucket list when she makes her Grand Slam debut in Roland-Garros qualifying later this spring. More proof that her resilience and her talent continue to pay big dividends.
Photos by: Gyles Dias
