Annie Miller is well into her freshman year at the University of Michigan. Ordinarily, information like that is only newsworthy among a student's relatives, but in Miller's case the announcement deserves a banner headline. The reason is simple: She quit tennis to be at school. Rather than prepare for WTA events in places like Japan, Indonesia and Germany, Miller, 22, has picked up the books full-time, shelving her game and her No. 41 world ranking.
The move, coming after playing tennis for three years, was spurred by several factors. Reality was one. "With no contracts and with paying my own expenses, I'm only making a little money," admits the native of Midland, Mich., who played on the USTA National Team from 1990 to 1993. "I don't want to sound hyper-critical, but I think most of the women at my level have to watch their money, (because) we make half of what the men make."
But even more important for Miller is the issue of being content with life on the tour. "I have had a battle within myself, deciding if tennis is going to make me happy in the next five to seven years," she says. "The greatest thing in the world is that (last year's French Open finalists) Carlos Moya and Alex Corretja went out to dinner (with each other) before that match. The guys seem to be able to separate the on-court and off-court stuff. A lot of the girls are friends with each other, but the way I feel -- and maybe I just take everything too personally -- is they have difficulty going on court and being competitive and then coming off and becoming friendly."
Budget problems and tour diplomacy are issues faced by almost all the pros but the difficulty is magnified when they're away from home and alone, when their emotional supports are thousands of miles away every week. "Top players can take their core unit of support with them," Miller says. "That's huge -- it's great to be able to have that stability with you. Without it, you can be consumed by little things."
Miller's father, Michael, is a doctor, one brother, John, is an attorney and another brother, David, is a fourth-year medical student, so it's easy to understand why life for Miller needs to consist of more than sport. "In my senior year of high school I was waffling about turning pro," she says. "Even when I started playing, there was some doubt always lingering. I was raised in a family where education is important. Tennis wasn't supposed to be my only way out."
Miller knows that many people don't grasp why she's refocused her life away from a relatively successful tennis career. "I don't tell people I was a professional player," she says, "but when they find out, they say, `You're crazy! Why did you quit?' Their reaction isn't surprising -- they don't understand what it's like to play week after week. All they see is a big tournament or a Grand Slam on network television."
Miller last played competitively at the 1998 US Open, where she lost in the third-round to Monica Seles 6-3, 6-3. Then she signed a one-year lease for an apartment in Ann Arbor, Mich., and moved in to start a new life. Her new opponents became classes in Spanish, statistics, and geography. "It's definitely different, but I'm enjoying it," she says. "For a person who played professional tennis, and (for whom tennis) came easy, it's a grind having to do homework and study."
But is she done with professional tennis forever?
"I know everyone says, `She's going to play again,'" Miller says. "For me, going to college has more to do with the rest of my life. The girls on the tour say I'm going through a phase. Tennis has been one of the most important things in my life, so of course I miss hitting a ball. But it's nice to get up in the morning, not put on tennis clothes, and walk on campus being one of the masses. I'm liking this."