How Freedoms' Vandeweghe got fit, gained in rankings

CoCo Vandeweghe got a wake-up call - and responded to it.

In February 2014, the tennis player, who is the niece of former Knicks star Kiki Vandeweghe, was at a qualifying tournament in Acapulco, Mexico, warming up to take on Risa Ozaki of Japan, then ranked No. 171, in the round of 32.

The match should have been an easy win, as Vandeweghe outranked her opponent by 60 spots at the time by World Tennis Association standards. But two hours later, Vandeweghe found herself walking off the clay courts to pack her bags - she lost in three sets.

"I kind of flipped a switch in my head," said Vandeweghe, who began World TeamTennis play with the Freedoms on Sunday. "I lost because of fitness and that's no excuse to ever lose, I decided at that moment."

Vandeweghe decided it was time to get serious about her fitness, something her coaches and mentors had been telling her for years. When she returned stateside, she revamped her training regimen and her life.

"It's almost like a constant hourly work where every hour is pretty much planned out," she said. "I know when I'm going to eat, when I'm going to take a nap, when I'm going to go play tennis, when I'm going to work out in the gym."

At first, the focus was building endurance. She worked with trainer Brett Calloway to design workouts that simulated point play.

"[Tennis] is short sprints for a long period of time," she explained. Now when she takes to the courts, she wears a heart rate monitor so Calloway can track her fitness.

It has been just under 18 months and Vandeweghe is already playing better than ever.

Before last week, Vandeweghe had never made it past the third round in 24 Grand Slam singles events since she turned pro in 2008.

Last Monday, Vandeweghe broke the streak with her straight-sets win over the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova, the sixth seed, in the third round at Wimbledon.

In the quarterfinals, Vandeweghe lost to No. 4 Maria Sharapova, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-2. Thanks to her performance at Wimbledon, Vandeweghe's WTA ranking jumped from No. 47 to 32 - the first time in her career that she has broken the top 40.

"It's definitely a career-changing situation because there's only a handful of people who can ever say that they have made the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam," she said.

Vandeweghe hasn't basked in her success for long. After returning from England, she joined the Freedoms for road matches against Springfield, San Diego and Tuesday night against the California Dream.

After her run with the Freedoms, Vandeweghe will start tailoring her training toward the U.S. Open Series this summer in preparation for the U.S. Open, which runs from Aug. 31 through Sept. 13.

"I'm happy for my success right now," she said. "But definitely not satisfied in any sense."