For Debbie Nasim, it was a rare unforced error.
“I never check my racket bag,” Nasim said. “Never! But I did it this one time and now they don’t know where it is.”
Nasim is back at her Cardiff home after competing in last week’s Maureen Connolly Cup at the International Tennis Foundation Masters Team Championships in Portugal.
The steady Nasim, a former pro player, seldom makes a glaring mistake on the court.
But after the four-woman team Nasim captained took third place in the 55-and-older category, Air Canada couldn’t place her luggage.
It will show up — Nasim hopes — just like she does whenever a chance comes to represent Uncle Sam.
She’s donned the red, white and blue since 2015, playing on various surfaces from Portugal to Croatia to Turkey to South Africa.
“Every year is different, a different experience,” she said. “But it’s always fun.”
Nasim, 56, found joy chasing a fuzzy yellow ball since she was 7. Her dad, Tom, was a schoolteacher, but his side hustle was teaching tennis for the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department.
Of his two daughters, Nasim was the hustler on the court.
“I became his No. 1 prodigy,” she said. “I had that competitive gene since I was young and would be at the courts all day, with my father teaching class after class.”
Turns out the teacher’s pupil was a heck of a student. Nasim embraced tennis and soon became one of America’s top female junior players.
She won the prestigious Orange Bowl tournament and advanced to draws in the junior divisions of Wimbledon, the US Open and the French Open, where she was a finalist.
“I was a very good junior player,” she said. “When I hit 15, I moved up to the 18-year-old division and was No. 1.”
Her top priority became turning pro, and she did just that at the ripe old age of 17. She was coached by Robert Lansdorp, who worked with the likes of Tracy Austin, Pete Sampras and Maria Sharapova.
One look at Nasim’s silky-smooth forehand recalls another all-time great — Chris Evert.
“It shows my age,” Nasim said with a chuckle, “but it’s hard to change at this point.”
Just like the trials and tribulations on the professional tennis tour never cease.
When Nasim reached her 20s, she was ranked among the world’s top 35, but was ready to tap out. Her barking right shoulder hindered her serve to the degree that tennis became a chore.
“I wanted a normal life,” she said.
Nasim got busy raising her family while compromising on raising her racket. But tennis never left, as she began giving lessons and itching to play again.
But before we continue, know that Nasim — known as Debbie Spence — won a pro San Diego event at Balboa Park in 1984, her lone tournament win on the circuit.
Fast-forward to 2007 in the final Acura Classic at La Costa Resort and Spa. Before Sharapova won, on-court announcer Fred Lewis presented a trivia question to the capacity crowd: Name the winner of the first San Diego women’s pro event.
Someone yelled, “Debbie Spence,” and soon she was down on the court telling Lewis she was in the house. That day Nasim stood on the court with the triumphant Sharapova in a classic picture of San Diego champions, past and present.
“The difference between when I won it and Maria?” Nasim asked. “I won $750, and she won about $180,000.”
Much like Nasim’s love for tennis, the San Diego Open has been resurrected, with the current edition being held Sept. 9-16 at the Barnes Tennis Center. The 28-player field, which includes American Coco Gauff and Tunisian Ons Jabeur, is impressive.
Maybe by then, Nasim’s luggage will have completed its safe passage. What a long, strange trip it’s been for Nasim and her baggage.
“I’ve been to a lot of places,” she said. “My dad thought I was nuts to quit playing tennis when I was making money, and now I’m playing and not making any money.”
Nasim is rich in other ways, honing her game for nearly five decades.
“It really is a sport of a lifetime,” she said. “As long as I’m on a tennis court trying to figure out how to win a point, it’s a privilege to be out there.”
Now, if Air Canada can only figure out where Nasim’s racket bag is located.
Contact Jay Paris at [email protected] and follow him @jparis_sports
