Watching Clervie Ngounoue play tennis, it’s easy to experience a kind of cognitive dissonance. The teen’s demeanor is calm and introspective. Her movement is smooth and deliberate. But when she’s ready to strike, what comes off her racquet is nothing but seismic.
It’s a power-centric game that the 18-year-old has been playing for years, and it put her at the top of the junior tennis world at the age of 16. After kicking off her summer by reaching the semifinals in girls’ singles at Roland-Garros (not to mention winning the doubles title with fellow American Tyra Caterina Grant), she transitioned to the grass of Wimbledon and took home the singles title without dropping a set. And, if that wasn’t enough, she returned home to win the USTA 18s National Championships in San Diego, which earned her a wild card into the 2023 women’s singles draw at the U.S. Open to cap off her summer.
In those incredible few months in which she also became the top junior in the world, there were some lessons. Maybe grass isn’t so bad, after all. Playing doubles was a key to her success. And it was time to leave junior tennis behind.
Now, in her first full year on the pro tour, Ngounoue is learning to harness her strengths against a new level of competition. While her fans figured she’d have a stack of wild cards into any event on her wishlist following her 2023 success, she’s breaking into the pro ranks the old-fashioned way: She’s earning it on the ITF Women’s Tour. For many players, the ITF level can often be a grind — especially internationally — thanks to substandard facilities, taxing match schedules, lack of practice courts, and earnings that might just cover the week’s expenses. But Ngounoue doesn’t just accept that path — she seems to prefer it, noting that it’s been a critical transition from the junior ranks.
“I’ve had a lot of fun kind of just trying to get my ranking up and playing all these tournaments and playing against all different types of players on tour,” she told Racquet last week at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, where she received her second WTA main draw wild card of the year. “Obviously we all want fast results, but that’s not reality for most people. There’s so much to learn, to take in, and to have fun in the journey.”
She’s taking that journey with her father Aimé Ngounoue, her first and forever coach, and Jermaine Jenkins, a coach appointed to her by the USTA last year. Together, they’re rounding out her game. Ngounoue might be known for blasting heavy groundies, but she rightly points to her willingness to come forward, the addition of her slice backhand, the action on her kick serve, and her deadly drop shots. “I feel like I have an all-around game and it’s mostly about developing that game fully because I feel like I have a lot of options and variety in my game,” she said. “That’s another reason for me to trust the process. It’s not all going to come together all at once.”
But things are coming together steadily for Ngounoue. She started 2024 just inside the top 500 in the world and won her first ITF event of the year, taking out four seeds along the way on the Har-Tru of Naples, Florida. From there, she has incrementally climbed the rankings, reaching a career-high of 299 last month after winning a second title (this time plowing through qualifying and three seeds — seven matches in all — on the hard courts of Dallas) the week before her Washington wild card.
In Washington, on the grounds of the Rock Creek Tennis Center, where she first learned to play tennis with her older sister and eventually her younger brother, she drew fellow American Peyton Stearns in the first round. It took a set of recalibrating her power and shot selection against an opponent of a higher caliber than she had been facing recently before Ngounoue found her footing. She dropped it 6-3, perhaps holding back a bit too much. With six double faults, also perhaps a bit nervous. In the second set, her team urged her to be more aggressive in her mentality, to play closer to the baseline, and to hit the ball harder to bigger targets. In short, to take charge of points — even if she didn’t win them. But she did win her share, pushing the second set to a tiebreak before succumbing to Stearns’ experience in the big moments.
At the net, Stearns met Ngounoue with a big smile and a bigger hug. It wasn’t the result Ngounoue wanted in front of a home crowd that grew in size and support as the match wore on — especially juxtaposed against winning a title just two days earlier. “I’m really just trying to accept it all and trust the plan that God has for me and not rush it at all,” said Ngounoue. “Easier said than done, but moments like winning the tournament last week while not playing my best tennis were kind of revealing moments to me — it’s like: hard work pays off and I’m doing everything I can.”
Allen McDuffee is a journalist and the creator of Court Theory.
