Carson Branstine looks back on her main-draw debut at Wimbledon

National champion and All-American Carson Branstine represented Texas A&M on the biggest stage in tennis earlier this week as she faced Aryna Sabalenka in the opening round at Wimbledon. On Thursday, Branstine joined TexAgs Live to relive her unforgettable experience.

Key notes from Carson Branstine interview

• I don’t even know how to describe my time at Wimbledon because it happened so quickly. Not everyone knows this, but the qualifying site and the main site at Wimbledon are different. During my qualifying matches, it was basically a different tournament. Once I qualified, I started gaining traction on social media. The draw came out less than 24 hours later. I saw I was playing the No. 1 player in the world, Aryna Sabalenka. I knew I would be playing on Centre Court or Court 1. I knew it would be the ESPN headline match. I didn’t even have time to process it until it was over. It was so much fun.
   
• It was extremely difficult to qualify. If people follow tennis closely, and they saw my draw in qualifying, they would have been shocked by the difficulty. I had to play the semi-finalist of Roland Garros in the first round, Lois Boisson, who was the No. 1 seed of qualifying. She would have been in the main draw if her new ranking had been out before the tournament. I beat a girl 65th in the world in my first qualifying match. In the second round, I played one of my best friends, Bianca Andreescu, who was a US Open champion and beat Serena Williams in 2019. Third round of qualifying, I played Raluca Georgiana Serban in her 15th Grand Slam qualifier. She’s been there before, and this was only my second. That was a difficult task, and by the time you get to the main draw, it’s a whole new tournament.
   
• I learned the biggest thing is that I can compete with anyone. The second set vs. Sabalenka was good. I didn’t feel like every moment of the match was my best tennis. There are so many things I can improve on, and that’s the best problem to have. There’s room for growth, and I’ve already done this well.
   
• When it comes to being an Aggie, if you see my other interviews, I talk about Texas A&M a lot. First of all, in college, you learn to play for more than just yourself. I’m also religious, so being Christian, I always feel like I’m playing for something bigger than myself. But at A&M, I had teammates and coaches I wanted to perform for. I take that with me, and I feel like that’s part of my job to be a good representation as an Aggie. I feel like that’s a unique perspective for me, being on the tour, because I kind of struggle with the selfish part of tennis. It’s a really selfish sport, obviously, since it’s individual, but having that team experience in college really helped me prepare for these things. Of course, when you go on Court 1 at Wimbledon, my first set wasn’t great. I wasn’t necessarily nervous. I was just kind of like, “Now what?” Honestly, playing at Georgia in the SEC Tournament was way worse because people are ripping you apart in the crowd. That doesn’t happen at Wimbledon. They are just clapping, and everyone is dressed well. I take the college experience as something I want to be part of me on the tour.
   
• When I first made the main draw and drew the No. 1 seed, they took me on a tour of Centre Court. They took me on a walk, and I saw the royal box, where I walked on court, two days before my match. I already knew the atmosphere, but once you’re there, my court was completely full at one point in the second set. It was packed. You take a second and are like, “Oh my gosh, I’m doing this right now.” It’s what everyone dreams of as a little kid. And my dreams were coming true. I loved it, and I wish I could play on courts like that every day.
   
• It’s been the biggest struggle for me, managing the mental side of things. I’m really hard on myself and very animated when I play. I’m tougher on myself than I should be. The mental side is the biggest hurdle. A lot of players have been talking about this lately on the pro tour. Some weeks, you’re doing great and everyone loves you, but some weeks, it’s the opposite. You’re playing every week, and it’s only you up there. The whole spotlight is hyper-focusing on every move you make. It’s really easy to overthink things. I’m guilty of it, and probably 99 percent of players are the same way. The best thing you can do, in my experience, is make sure you have people around you that you know you can trust, either physically or on the phone. Having a good support system is No. 1. It looks glamorous, but I’m doing a job. I have to take care of my body. I have to eat a certain way, I have to sleep a certain way, and I have to prepare for my match. Even being in London for 10 days, it was just hotel, tennis courts, hotel, tennis courts, every day. That’s the reality.
   
• I didn’t have an easy journey through college. I was a double transfer coming into A&M. I was technically a junior coming in, but I stayed three years to finish my degree. I know that as Aggies, we talk about the Aggie Spirit and culture of the school, which a lot of people like to put down. It’s a real thing, though, and it’s something that I didn’t get at the first two schools I was at. I didn’t know what A&M was about, but I was interested. Now that we had so much success, I made some of my best friends. I loved my coaches, and the day-to-day life of being a student was so much fun. Aggieland felt like home.
   
• I was injured in college, too. I had my fourth surgery during my second year at A&M. I really thought I was done with tennis. I was burnt out and had a lot of guilt about being injured again, but the people around me were the biggest reason I tried one more time. That’s why I say it’s the best decision I made. I would not have done any of this, had any success. I wouldn’t be in this interview talking about Wimbledon if it wasn’t for A&M. For that alone, it’s a priceless thing, and all these things come from being an Aggie. My Aggie Ring is in my bag right here. I wear it everywhere I can.
   
• It’s hard to say where the program will go. Recruiting is a tricky thing, especially for tennis. Going back to individuality, you get a lot of young players and foreign players in tennis. You never know what to expect. I have full confidence in coach Mark Weaver, though. He is an amazing tennis coach and an amazing man. If I really had a problem, I would call him up for advice. I have full trust in him, and that’s another reason why I’m out here right now. I want to help the program even though I’m not there anymore. I hope my success and talking about being an Aggie will help his path with recruiting because it’s not easy in tennis. I think everything will work out how it should, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t be one of the best teams in the country every year.
   
• For me, this is also unique compared to other college players. Prior to college, I had experience on tour already. I was ranked around 450th in the world before college, and top-five in the world as a junior. I played junior Wimbledon, so I’d been on some of the smaller courts before. I was kind of living the professional life before my college experience. I think it was easier for me than for other players. For me, though, my challenge was financial. That’s not easy. You don’t want to be my age, 24, begging people for money. I’m not good at asking for help. Not really having direction, trying to figure things out fresh out of college. It’s not easy all the time when you’re going to third-world countries by yourself. I think a lot of players would agree.