Even when she was in Spain, Anna Garcia saw something in Ames: a new home and a great place to become a better tennis player. 

Garcia grew up in Reus, Spain with her mother, father and brother. Reus is a city about an hour away from Barcelona, where most of her tennis tournaments were hosted.

Garcia was motivated and passionate about the game of soccer early in her childhood. 

“At the beginning I loved soccer,” Garcia said. “But my dad didn’t allow me to play it.”

Instead of soccer, Garcia’s father suggested tennis and she fell in love. At the age of 8, Garcia knew that tennis was going to be the sport that she focused on.

“After the first swing, I knew that tennis would be my passion and I wanted to play the sport everyday,” Garcia said.

Xavi Garcia, Garcia’s father, was a tennis player throughout his childhood and knew that Garcia could be a great player in the future if she worked hard. Garcia received support from every member of her family, which helped her get to where she is today.

Garcia and her father would travel to clubs near her hometown to practice, but it always seemed like school got in the way.

“The teachers don’t really care about the sports,” Garcia said. “They expect you to focus on academics and nothing else.”

With that mentality in mind, Garcia knew she couldn’t focus on both sports and academics in Spain. She needed to move somewhere that appreciated both.

“The scouts came to the European championships and saw me play,” Garcia said.  

A scout asked Garcia after the tournament if she was interested in playing in the United States. After a discussion with her parents, Garcia thought that going to the United States would benefit her in tennis as well as in academics.

“After talking to the recruiting agency, we knew that we were going to benefit from her [Garcia],” said ISU head coach Armando Espinosa. 

The only problem with coming to America was choosing which school was the best fit for Garcia’s her talents and major, which is genetics. 

“I had 22 offers, and I discarded some because they didn’t have my major or they were too far away,” Garcia said.

Some of Garcia’s other offers were from colleges like University at Buffalo in New York, University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Ohio State University. Ultimately, she decided to sign with Iowa State because she liked Espinosa’s plan for the future. 

“I came here because I thought the tennis was really good and the team practiced every day to get better,” Garcia said.

Garcia had expectations coming into Ames for not only this year but the next four years.

“As for my degree, I want to know that I’m prepared for getting a job after college and can research diseases in the world,” Garcia said. “As for tennis, I wanted to practice every day and play in competitive championships.”

Espinosa has some expectations for Garcia to make the tennis team better for the future.

“She’s not going to have an explosive game,” Espinosa said. “She’s going to have a more physical game in terms of length of the match because she can run down the balls.”

Currently, Garcia is suffering from a back injury, but she is looking forward to getting healthy again and being able to work hard for the winter season. Espinosa and her teammates want her back soon and are looking forward to seeing her explosive, physical energy on the court.