Coming full circle

By Sue Teggart
C & G Sports Writer

Former WTA tour professional and Bloomfield Hills native Ospina comes home

Diana Ospina always knew that one day she would return to the Sports Club of West Bloomfield.

After all, it’s where she molded her tennis career.

Now it’s where she’s helping others shape their games.

After spending 10 years as a Women’s Tennis Association touring professional, Ospina, 29, is now back home and ready to begin the second phase of her tennis career — coaching.

‘A dream come true’

In 1997, Ospina was a young tennis standout from Bloomfield Hills fresh off of winning the 18 National Indoor Championships at the Franklin Fitness & Racquet Club in Southfield. Ospina said capturing that title had been a longtime goal.

“It was my dream since I was a little girl to win that tournament,” Ospina said. “I actually won a professional tournament — a challenger in Mexico City — a month before the national indoor. I’ll never forget it. That was my dream tournament to win in the juniors, and to do it in front of my family and friends was a dream come true.”

For the next 10 years, Ospina traveled the world as a tennis professional. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 231 in November 2003 and felt her game was clicking on all cylinders by 2005.

“I started getting in a rhythm,” Ospina said. “My body was physically healthy … I remember just winning, and everything just seemed to click.”

She was playing some of the best tennis of her career in 2006 — winning tournaments in Redding, Calif., and in Monzon, Spain.

“I remember having really high confidence,” Ospina said about being at the height of her career. “I could deal with tight losses and wins, and keep it in a balance.”

A bump in the road

After the tournament in Spain, Ospina said she began to feel sluggish during another tournament in Spain. Her doctors eventually gave her an explanation: she had mononucleosis.

“I knew something was wrong with my body,” Ospina said. “It was a blessing I lost in Spain in my second tournament, because my spleen could have ruptured. I had no idea.”


Doctors told Ospina she couldn’t play for the summer, but she struck a deal that if she got her cell count back up by July, she would train for the U.S. Open in late August. She accomplished that goal and played in the Open’s qualifying tournament.

When the 2007 season rolled around, Ospina was again pushing to come back — reaching a ranking of 262 — when injuries, a ganglion cyst in her right wrist, sidelined her in 2007.

“They grew in my ligaments, so any ball I hit or made contact with I had so much pain,” Ospina said.

Ospina sought therapy from a doctor in Texas and was able to train and compete for seven months, through June 2007. In September, she had surgery and planned to return in 2008, but ultimately decided against a comeback.

“I lost all my ranking points,” Ospina said. “I would have to start all over again, like a 17-year-old, trying to come back. I decided I didn’t want to travel 30 weeks of the year anymore.”

Staying in the game

After retiring from competitive tennis, where she won five International Tennis Federation singles titles and posted a career record of 191-184, she was asked to coach friend and fellow pro, Kelly Liggan, the No. 1 player in Ireland, and did so for six months.

Her career came full circle when she decided to come home and give lessons full time at the Sports Club.

“I knew I was going to coach after I played tennis,” Ospina said. “I can’t think of a better place to go back to than the Sports Club, because I’ve been there since I was 14 years old. They’ve seen me through everything.”

Ospina and fellow Sports Club tennis professional Ronnie Parker are offering a tennis camp Monday through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. until August 20 at West Bloomfield High. The camp is flexible, offering a daily rate of $43 and a weekly rate of $150.

For more information, contact the Sports Club of West Bloomfield at (248) 626-9880.

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Sue Teggart at steggart@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1107.