Open success has Cross dreaming big

Kayla Cross’s second place finish at the Australian Open was an emotional experience. It marked the highlight of her young career — and it came a year to the day after the passing of a good friend.

Kayla Cross (right) accepts her second-place trophy alongside pairs partner Victoria Mboko after the Australian Open Women’s Juniors Final. (Photo: Martin Sidorjak / Tennis Canada).

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Even half a world away, she heard the cheers from home. Following her friends posting stories to social media. Getting calls from her family at odd hours after her matches. Every interaction brought a smile to her face.

Now, as Kayla Cross steps off the biggest stage of her career, the 16-year-old phenom turns her eyes to the future and the possibility of dreaming bigger dreams.

“When you start tennis, you don’t look at like being No. 1 in the world. You just look at going and playing provincial tournaments, then going and playing nationals, then going and playing international tournaments, ITS, Grand Slams. Never would I have thought three years ago that I’d be in the finals of Australian Open doubles, because that’s a crazy thing. Obviously, that was just a dream of mine.”

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Last week, a remarkable run at the Australian Open Juniors came to an end for Cross, who, along with doubles partner Victoria Mboko of Toronto, were defeated in the Junior Girls’ Doubles final at the Grand Slam event. The Canadian pair fell 6-4, 6-3 to the top-ranked tandem of Clervie Ngounoue/Diana Shnaider.

Despite a second-place finish to the American-Russian combo, the Canadian duo were the standout pair at the tourney, unranked and going toe-to-toe with ranked opponents throughout. Cross/Mboko fought their way to the finals through four matches, dispatching two ranked opponents and weathering two tiebreakers along the way.

But those results were no surprise to Cross, who has come to value her connection with her long-time doubles partner.

Cross and Mboko have known each other since they were 6 years old, both finding themselves atop their age groups. (Cross is a year older.) They have actively trained side-by-side since June 2020, and they’ve played doubles together since March 2021.

“We have a lot of experience together. It’s just really fun to play with Vicki,” Cross said. “We have so much fun on the court. We know how to talk to each other. We know how to help each other out when things aren’t going well in matches. It’s nice to have a friend out there and feel supported.”

(Photo: Martin Sidorjak / Tennis Canada).

Cross got her start at 6 years old on the courts of the London Hunt and Country Club. Inspired by her dad and brothers who played the sport, she tagged along to their tournaments until she committed to tennis at 10 years old.

She traveled to Australia last month with Tennis Canada and her teammates, as her family and friends stayed back at home. But that didn’t diminish the experience of her biggest moment.

“For my first time in Australia, it was really exciting just to be there, a great experience,” Cross said.

All the top players go to the top tournaments, not just Grand Slam events, so even warmup tourneys have the highest levels of competition. But while the competition was similar Down Under, the atmosphere was a lot different, Cross said.

“The Australian Open is not like any other tournament. For sure, it’s a Grand Slam. Everything from the locker rooms, to the staff, to the balls kids, to the umpires, everything was next level. Everything was crazy. It felt like we were mini-pros out there.”

In addition to doubles, Cross also participated in the Australian Open Junior Singles competition. She won her opening match, 6-3, 6-4, against Anastasiia Gureva of Russia before falling 2-6, 2-6 to Petra Marcinko of Croatia in the second round.

“There are nerves, for sure, but the excitement takes over,” she said. “When I got on court, I’m trying to make it seem like any other match, still fighting till the last point no matter what the score is, deciding to play the way I wanted to play, and play for me. I felt like I could do that with all the support I had back home.”

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Take away the fans – both in the stands and back home. Take away the opponents, the staff, the tourney officials. Even take away her longtime doubles partner.

You could take away everyone at Margaret Court Arena on that day and Kayla Cross still wouldn’t stand alone. Because there she was, moments after the biggest match of her life, and her mind was with someone else.

“This court is special to play on any day of the year. But my friend passed away last year on this day, so it was really special to play here today,” she told the crowd after the match, catching the emotion of the moment in her throat.

Cross was speaking of Louis St Pierre, a budding tennis star she had known since their days sharing a coach when they were starting out training in Toronto. St Pierre was 8 when first diagnosed with cancer.

“He would beat it and it kept coming back,” Cross said. “Louis was one of my best friends growing up. We didn’t always talk all the time, because obviously he was going through stuff and I was traveling. But when in person, we hung out all the time.”

Louis died on Jan. 28, 2021. Cross played her final on Jan. 28, 2022.

It was a matching moment that did not escape Cross.

“It was really cool to be able to play on that court, the biggest court I’ve ever played on, the biggest match I’ve ever played in, on that day. I know I didn’t get the win, but I did it for him.”

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The Australian Open was “a great stepping stone, for sure,” Cross said.

This week, she heads to Brazil for two junior tournaments, then she’ll take some time to train and get a little bit stronger in the gym. She plans to watch and pick apart some of the Open matches to see where she can improve.

Then, she’ll start playing to get a pro ranking with a simple long-term goal in mind: “For sure, No. 1 WTA and playing on the Pro Tour all the time.”