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"Imagine being just 16, playing in the biggest tennis match of your life \u2014 at the U.S. Open \u2014 against Kim Clijsters, who has four Grand Slam Titles. Such was the case last week for teen phenom Victoria Duval, who played in the Open after earning a wild-card entry to the tournament. Let us break down for you how major that is: Duval was ranked 562nd and Clijsters 25th \u2014 and Duval even managed to get a few points off the seasoned pro! Duval, who lives in Boca Raton, FL, battled Clijsters for 51 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium last week in New York. And although Duval considers Clijsters her &amp;quot;idol,&amp;quot; it was actually Clijsters who asked to take a pic with the teen superstar after the match! Seventeen caught up with tennis&amp;#039; next big thing (she won the Under-18 U.S. national championship this year!) to talk winning, losing, and pushing yourself. Plus, Duval shared her secret to staying confident on and off the court. 17: How did you feel when you drew Kim Clijsters, and what was going through your mind? Victoria Duval: Right before I saw the draw come out and I saw I was playing Clijsters, I was so excited. I couldn&amp;#039;t believe what I was looking at! I was like &amp;#039;No, maybe I&amp;#039;m seeing wrong.&amp;#039; She&amp;#039;s such a role model for me, so being able to play your idol is really incredible. 17: What was the crowd like during the match? VD: The crowd was insane. I came out pretty nervous on the first game. I lost a couple of points pretty quickly but the crowd loosened me up right away. When you hear the pros talk about how there&amp;#039;s nothing like [playing the U.S. Open in] New York, you never know until you experience it. I was blown away. 17: How did you prepare yourself to be on such a big stage? VD: I couldn&amp;#039;t really! I did my best to prepare, but I couldn&amp;#039;t sleep at night. I was just like &amp;#039;when I go out there just look at the ball and the court.&amp;#039;  17: Ho do you stay fit and motivated? VD: I put in a lot of work at the gym to stay in good shape. To keep myself motivated, I look at the more seasoned American tennis players, like Venus and Serena Williams. I want to be at that level, too. They push us younger players, generation after generation, to be at the top. 17: How do you stay confident, ane keep your head in the game? VD: Confidence comes through repetition. Going out there you can get really nervous and not trust your shot, but one thing I tell myself that helps keep me on track is that I&amp;#039;ve hit thousands of forehands and thousands of backhands. And when I go out on the big stage I say to myself, &amp;#039;think about how many times you&amp;#039;ve done this.&amp;#039; That helps me forget about everything else going on. 17: Kim Clijsters wanted to take a picture with you because she was just so inspired by your game. What did that feel like? VD: I was really freaking out in the locker room! I couldn&amp;#039;t stop bouncing around and screaming. SHe came to me and said, &amp;#039;Are you OK?&amp;#039; I just thought it was so nice of her to come and talk to me before the match. 17: Tell us about your training schedule: How do you balance school and tennis? VD: It&amp;#039;s not easy! I usually play tennis for two hours in the morning, then I have an hour of fitness training, and then in the afternoon, I play two more hours of tennis, and usually squeeze in another workout at the gym, too. I&amp;#039;m homeschooled, and do all of my schoolwork in the evening. 17: What are your plans for the future? VD: I plan on playing professional tennis for sure. My dream is to win all four Grand Slams, hopefully more than once. And after my tennis career I want to pursue an art career. Duval is currently playing in the U.S. Open Juniors, through September 9th! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/health/advice/a19245/tennis-star-victoria-duval/>