Emma Estrada has never been afraid to take the road less traveled. Instead of the traditional route, the 13-year-old junior tennis standout from Covina has always wanted to challenge herself by doing the unexpected. 

At the age of four, Emma’s parents Bernie and Rose decided the exuberant Emma needed a sport to play and she initially did well in soccer before boredom set in. She tried softball and that lasted one day. “She hated it,” Bernie said. But then she stumbled upon tennis and was hooked. 

“We said tennis?” Bernie recalled. “We don’t know anybody who plays tennis. We’re Mexican American. We didn’t know what she was talking about.” 

Rose found Tony Trear, a former UCLA player who is the longtime Director of Tennis at the Glendora Tennis Center, who saw that Emma had a desire to learn the game like few he had ever coached. “He said, ‘Wow, she can actually hit the ball,’ and ‘She actually enjoys coming to practice,’ ” Bernie said. “She started at such a young age, but he saw the enjoyment she had each time she stepped on the court.” 

An eighth grader at Saint Juliana Falconieri Catholic School in Fullerton, Estrada said she likes the individual aspect of tennis. “I just loved being able to move a lot,” she said. “To be able to be in control and not worry about anyone else holding me back.” 

Estrada is obsessed with getting better at tennis. Bernie says each morning, on her own, Emma rises at 4:30 to do workouts in the Estrada’s home office, which has been converted into a gym. She practices six days a week, mixing in some on court time with Vince Mackey at the Pasadena Tennis Academy. 

When she was 9 years old Bernie said Emma asked how she could get stronger on the court, so he made a call to the local USTA office who put him in touch with Todd Norman of Cutting Edge Sports Training who had previously worked with Lindsay Davenport. 

“We call it her little tennis village,” Rose said. “We are so blessed to have such a great tennis support group. She knows this is her dream and she’s going to do everything she can to become the best player she can be.”

And if striving to get better at tennis each day at such a young age wasn’t enough, Estrada is also fluent in Mandarin and currently taking classes in the Chinese language after attending a day care center in an Asian community in Rosemead near where the family’s electrical and light wholesale business is located. She has already represented her school a few times in Mandarin speaking contests.

Estrada cites Rafa Nadal and Aryna Sabalenka as her top players to watch and emulate, especially after seeing Sabalenka featured on the Netflix series “Break Point.” 

“I just admire all the things she’s been through,” said Estrada, who will attend Rosary Academy next year as she begins high school. “I can relate to her style and her emotion and passion for tennis.”

Estrada said her main focus is to get good enough to earn a college scholarship, then go pro and someday win a Grand Slam.

She said another one of her goals is to continue to make her family proud and carry on the Mexican traditions that have been passed down to her. “I want to put a name on the board for Hispanic players,” Emma said. “You don’t see a lot of them. I want there to be somebody to look up and relate to and let them know that if I can do it, they can also go out there and achieve their dreams.”