Annabelle Xu has spent the majority of her life playing the game she loves. And now, the student-athlete, a rising star on the UVA Women’s Tennis team, has brought her focus and determination to McIntire, too.
Xu, who came to Grounds from her hometown of Montreal, Canada, has already earned some important recognition. She was named in the 2024 Division I Women’s Regional Awards as the region’s Player to Watch by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) on June 12, for her athletic excellence. Having advanced to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Singles Championship, she finished the season ranking #44 in singles, her career best. She also earned ITA All-America honors and had a 23-11 singles record, which led to a spot on the All-ACC First Team in singles.
Perhaps most impressive in garnering all of those accolades is the fact that she’s been performing at less than 100%.
“Last spring, I didn’t play much because I was out with a foot injury for pretty much the whole semester,” Xu says. She attributes her quick rise in the ranks to being healthy and staying durable throughout the entire rigorous season of play. But she says that despite her success, she’s not completely out of the woods quite yet. “I’m actually still nursing that foot,” she says, explaining that the lingering condition has led her to be cautious, taking the time to rest and recuperate, instead of forcing the issue by competing in tournaments over the summer.
And as Xu stands to become more of a powerhouse in her sport, she’s also proven that she’s an academic force, earning a spot on the All-ACC Women’s Tennis Academic Team. She embodies the spirit of a student-athlete, balancing her rigorous academics at UVA with her long-held goal of playing tennis professionally once she graduates.
Becoming a Team Player
Xu’s passion for tennis took hold at a young age. “I started playing tennis at the age of six, when my family and I went back to China,” Xu says in reference to where she spent a few years in early childhood, despite being born and raised in Montreal. With her parents prompting her to pick up a sport, tennis won out over soccer and hockey. “So I just kept with it,” she says.
Xu balanced her education in Canada with extensive travel for tennis, often attending high school online to accommodate her busy training and competition schedule. Her decision to attend college in the U.S. was motivated by the desire to continue elevating her tennis career while pursuing a strong academic program. The University emerged as the best possibility, offering the right blend of academic rigor and a competitive tennis environment. “UVA fit into everything I wanted,” she says.
While the move to Charlottesville and college life was a transition that all UVA students must adjust to, one of Xu’s most significant adjustments came when she had to shift from being a sole competitor to joining a team environment.
“What I liked about tennis was that I was alone on the court. I’m so competitive, and I felt like when I was on a team, it was harder for me because I couldn’t control everything,” Xu admits. “Sometimes, even if I was playing well, my team would lose, and I couldn’t understand why that was happening. So I really liked being alone and being able to play my game. If I lost it was on me.”
That feeling has changed with her time in the UVA Women’s Tennis.
“It’s nice to be on a team with other people and training and having everybody go for the same goal,” Xu says, contrasting it with the experience of competing on her own. “The most exciting part is that every single day I get to go to practice and see some of my closest friends. I get to hit with them and have these great relationships with my coaches and my teammates. And then when we go play, I get to play next to them, which is so different. College tennis is different because you’re next to five other people, everybody’s so loud, and the energy is so different compared to a regular match,” she says. “It took a little bit of adjusting, but it’s something that I enjoy.”
Having formed strong bonds with Head Coach Sara O’Leary and Associate Head Coach Gina Suarez-Malaguti, the latter of whom she credits with helping her understand her role on the team and looking toward a leadership role and the responsibilities that come with it, Xu has taken on a new view: “When I have a bad day, I can still make it a good day for other people. Being on a team was really hard for me at first, but then as I started buying into it more, I realized that there are so many benefits coming from it.”
Finding Ways to Lead
Xu chose to apply to McIntire when she heard from teammates who were in the Commerce School and had positive things to say about their learning experiences.
“I’ve always liked marketing and sales,” she says. This interest, combined with her father’s influence in finance, steered her towards business studies. “My dad, who’s an engineer, always had a personal liking for the stock market and was teaching me about it.”
She chose to concentrate in Marketing and made the decision to pursue the Leadership Minor as well. Xu was compelled to explore the minor after completing the introductory Leadership across the Disciplines course with Professor Jeffrey Lovelace.
“I took the class initially because I wanted to minor in case I didn’t get into McIntire, but then as the class was going, I really liked it and felt like pursuing the minor anyways,” she says, pointing out that, although most people don’t major in Commerce and take a minor at McIntire, it was possible. “We always talk about leadership as being the coach of a team or being the head of a company, but I feel like there are so many different aspects to it. Professor Lovelace brought in guest speakers, and I thought that was really cool to see them reflecting on their leadership, and I feel like I could use it in my everyday life.”
Balancing tennis and academics requires an intense dedication. “We spend 20 hours a week training, I do the required four hours a day but I’m probably spending, on my own, six hours a day on tennis-related activities,” she says. Her day typically starts with morning classes, followed by intensive training sessions, and ending with hours dedicated to schoolwork. “I try to go to sleep before midnight, but I’m a night person, which isn’t great because I get so much more productive at night,” she says.
While her busy schedule has made it difficult for her to spend time doing much else, like reading or picking up pottery—something she’d be interested in trying her hand at, she’s content to keep her attention on realizing her dreams. Because for now, her immediate future is focused squarely on tennis. “I still want to play professional tennis. That’s what I’ve been wanting to do my whole life,” she asserts.
