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NEW YORK -- Teenager Vania King is anticipating the most nerve-racking performance of her life this week. And it's not the rapidly improving American's second-round clash with No.2 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne.
King, 17, will sing the national anthem before Thursday night's session at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
She can expect a packed house for her a cappella rendition. Andre Agassi, set to retire after the tournament, is slated to play his second-round match against Marcos Baghdatis that evening.
"Oh definitely," King says when asked if she'll have more butterflies at her musical debut in 23,736-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium than against Henin-Hardenne. "But at least it's much shorter than a match."
King, a 5-5 baseliner from Long Beach who isn't afraid to attack the net, has taken singing lessons since she was 4 and continues to exercise her vocals most days on the road. She enjoys belting out Broadway tunes and the occasional Celine Dion hit. "I like to think I have a rich voice," she says.
Last year King reached the second round at the Open as a 721st-ranked qualifier. She has risen 651 slots to No.70 -- more than any other player on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in the last 12 months.
"Last year it was nerve-racking because I didn't feel like I belonged here," she says. "Now I consider myself as one of the players."
Fed Cup captain Zina Garrison heard studio-recorded songs King had on her laptop computer during a tie earlier this year. That information got back to U.S. Tennis Association officials, who persuaded King to perform in New York. She has never sung before more than 500 people, and that was at a recital when she was 7.
"I love it just as much as I love winning," King says of her singing. "It's something I can pour my emotions into."
By demonstrating both vocal and ball-striking skills as a young child, which did her Taiwan-born parents want her to pursue, singing or tennis? "I think they wanted me to be a scholar," laughs King.
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