The rock star's ramen is getting cold. Too busy reflecting on her career, Julia Browne hasn't touched her meal for over an hour now, let alone noticed that the evaporating broth is rapidly drying out the frizzy noodles.
From the outside, the quaint dark-grey apartment on Winthrop Street with the red door, three potted plants on the front steps and picture of a shirtless male model in the first-floor window appears just like every other on the outskirts of campus. Everything seems familiar, from the empty pots on the stove to the tennis bag out front. But to be in this home is to become simultaneously immersed in greatness and happiness, qualities that in this bubbly blonde, like the noodles she leaves to get soggy, come prepackaged.
It's initially unclear whether the noticeable warmth in the room is a manifestation of steam from Browne's rapidly cooling noodles. Then you realize that it's probably just the sheepish-yet-welcoming grin that makes you feel like you've been lifelong buddies.
Because the best Div. III women's tennis player in the country might also be the friendliest.
Break 'em with silence
Trying to get Browne to miss ranks is among the legendarily impossible things in this world, right next to time travel and flying pigs.
The way the senior tri-captain speaks of her game, it sounds like an evil plan — a method of attack predetermined by a psychological mastermind well-versed in the art of torture. Don't show any emotion. Always return shots. If anger surfaces, walk calmly to the fence, away from the opponent. It's all part of the strategy. Break 'em down with silence. Stoicism triumphs over antagonism for the player who's spent four years conquering with kindness at Tufts.
Most of the time, the attitude — or lack thereof — is more about respect than anything. Browne has no tolerance for unsportsmanlike conduct; that's why she carries herself so graciously. Apologizing after a ball hits the net and bounces over is commonplace. So is the refusal to show up her opponent with bragging or excessive emotions.
Watch the video of Browne's 2010 NCAA Singles Championship match with Williams' Grace Baljon and the qualities that earned her the Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship become clear.
"A lot of people enjoy playing against players who throw their racquet and get really frustrated, because that gives you more motivation," Browne's former doubles partner and one of her best friends, Meghan McCooey (LA '10), said. "If you watch Julia play, even if she's playing her worst tennis, you'd never know, because she keeps it all behind a stone face."
"I have been looking at that for four years, trying to copy that. It's incredible," said senior tri-captain Edwina Stewart, Browne's housemate and close friend. "Coming out here and seeing her wandering around the court as if she's playing a casual set in the park when she's playing for the national championship is kind of cool to watch."
As Browne clinches the national title with a nifty backhand slice that skips on the line, she jogs to the net, hand extended for a handshake and hug to her friend. No dropping to her knees to thank the heavens — it's just another day and another win.
"I don't think it's unique just to me, but I do think it's rare," she says. "I think that sometimes people get too caught up in being competitive or trying to gain an edge on their opponent that they don't think they can be nice. Just because you say hello to someone at breakfast doesn't mean they're going to think any differently of you when you step on the court. I just don't think the two are related."
Get to know Browne off the court, and she becomes anything but silent and emotionless, always ready to pick someone up and lend a hand.
"She's a rock star," said Stewart, whose British accent makes it seem like she could very well be talking about The Beatles. "She really is, in every sense. If you asked me who would I be out of anybody in Division Three, in a heartbeat, in every respect, I would choose to be like her."
Proof of her loyalty and dedication to the team is emblazoned in the 13 pieces of jewelry she wears, each with its own symbolic connection to those closest to her. The shamrock bracelet in aqua — her favorite color — from her parents; the championship ring; another ring, a present from Stewart; a brown and blue bracelet from junior Nathalie Schills; another bracelet from freshman Samantha Gann; one necklace from her grandparents; and the other from her best friend back home. And, of course, those trademarked earrings she wears on the court, a gift from McCooey.
"The teammates that I've had here are definitely going to be friends for life, and I think that's really rare and special, and I would not trade that for anything," she says.
‘Dad, I think I've peaked'
Perhaps this path to greatness was preordained. When Julia was two years old, her father suspended a tennis ball from the ceiling in the basement and bought her a plastic racket. At an age when most are learning to formulate sentences and walk down stairs, Julia Browne was busy hitting forehands.
Richard Browne always considered his oldest daughter to be a late bloomer, believing that she would continue getting better throughout college while others peaked in their late teens. The former professional tennis player and University of Wisconsin graduate was never the type to push his daughter onto the same path he blazed, so she only started taking lessons when she was 12 or 13. When she declared her intentions to play collegiate tennis, however, it became all tennis, all the time.
"She was angry at me, saying, ‘But dad, I want to be good now,'" Mr. Browne said. "I would tell her to go back and look at the top-ranked 14-and-unders and see how many of them are playing good tennis in college, and she realized that losing right now isn't that important. In the end, she's smiling now."
Smile. It's a world eternally linked to the girl with the golden hair and the golden grin. It seems to run in the family; her father's enthusiasm radiates through the phone, slicing through the receiver as he recollects the genesis of his daughter's success.
"Our experience together through tennis has been a gift," he says, admittedly fighting back tears in the process. "The fact is we had tennis also as a vehicle through which to interact and get to know each other. A lot of times parents try to instill things in their children and teach them lessons in life, and the kids don't want to hear it. I have to say that we're both very lucky that she gravitated towards tennis."
When Julia was 16, she lost a match to someone on the junior circuit whom she had previously beaten. A teary-eyed daughter approached her father and made a declaration.
"Dad, I think I've peaked. I think that's as good as I'm going to get," she said.
"I basically just laughed at her," Mr. Browne recalls. "She got angry, and I told her that, no, I think there's a lot more room, a lot more potential there."
Flipping the switch
Julia Browne has no offseason.
Or, to be more accurate, according to her father, she doesn't understand the concept of an offseason. To wit, Mr. Browne remembers his daughter calling him at 9 p.m., following a full day of practices and classes, while she drives to hit with a local professional at a nearby club, just to get another hour of work in. Cliches about "going the extra mile" pale in comparison; she goes the extra 40 minutes each way, just to play after dinner.
For the player whom coach Kate Bayard and former teammate and assistant coach Laura Hoguet (LA '10) each independently call the hardest worker they've ever seen, such is routine. Browne came to Tufts after being spurned by larger schools; Bucknell wasn't confident she could make the lineup, and the Brown coach told her not to even bother applying.
Big mistake.
As Bayard sits in her office, she reflects on Browne's career with a constant smile, almost in disbelief that she's coached someone who, in every sense of the expression, has mastered the chase to perfection.
"She's definitely someone who is rare, who stands out not just in terms of her accomplishments but overall as a person," Bayard says. "She's always practicing with a purpose, no matter what. She just has it innately in her; she's always wanting to get whatever she can out of every moment on the court."
Just like her national-caliber talents, so too is her attitude world-class. Fraternizing with the enemy is seen by some as a violation of the competitive spirit, but Browne views it as a necessity. She'll strike up conversations with fellow NESCAC players, a trait learned from her father.
Browne's ability to seamlessly transition between the intense, honed-in tennis player on the court and the kind, caring one the minute she walks beyond the service line is hardly lost on her teammates.
"The second she steps off the court, she's this smiling little blonde girl … a regular college student," Stewart says. "But during matches, it's like a different state of mind. She definitely has the ability to switch from one to the other. I think if she was like that off the court, she wouldn't be surrounded by as many people or be as close to many people. But because she's able to have both sides, everyone loves her."
Attaining 499
For all the individual achievements in her career, the one that Bayard calls the best in Tufts women's tennis history, and the moment that stands out most in Browne's mind, surrounds a match she lost. Not exactly a typical answer, especially given the NCAA title and 89-20 career singles record. Then again, Browne isn't a typical teammate.
Her sophomore year at team regionals against Bowdoin, Browne succumbed to an arm cramp and fell in singles, leaving the Jumbos down 4-3 with Erica Miller (LA '10) and McCooey remaining, each down a set and losing in the second.
"It's hard to even put it into words, but they both ended up winning their matches in third-set tiebreakers, and it was literally the most incredible team moment I have ever witnessed," Browne says. "And then we all ran on the court. It was as if we had won the national championship, it was that emotional. It was just the epitome of what a team is really like."
With her career at Tufts winding down, it's the team moments that stand out the most for the player with the unsurpassed individual achievements.
"I wouldn't trade any of the individual success I've had, but the real moments I know I'm going to cherish from college tennis are what I experienced with my team because it's something really special that a lot of people never get to experience."
The memories will last forever, but the moment is quickly disappearing. In mid-June, Browne will move in with her younger sister in Atlanta to join the professional circuit. After a month of training, she'll play in three $10,000 tournaments in Atlanta, Indiana and Missouri, hopefully working her way up to bigger-money events.
Aside from stories from her father and the occasional tournament played over break, Browne has been exposed to pro tennis in some of the most unlikely of circumstances. For the past five years, the Browne household has hosted Francesca Schiavone, the No. 4-ranked player in the world and 2010 French Open champion, or Nadia Petrova, a two-time French Open semifinalist, while they competed at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows. Shy and star-struck at first, Julia quickly warmed up to the visiting pros, grilling them on their experiences, hitting with them on a few occasions and even playing some pingpong.
As she prepares to leave the team atmosphere she loves so dearly for a more individualized experience, Browne has few expectations for her journey, aside from continuing her biggest passion.
"It's hard to put a number where I want to be ranked or anything like that, but I always joke with my dad that when he finished playing, he was ranked No. 500 in the world, so I'm going to play until I'm 499, then I'll retire."
Her teammates see a slightly different future.
"For her, there is no maximum," Hoguet said.
Into the future
The weather wholly unsuitable for tennis outdoors, Tufts' April 19 home match with national No. 1 Amherst was moved inside into the Gantcher Center. On the near court at first singles, the slot in which Browne has taken up residence for the past four years, her opponent is getting frustrated and increasingly vocal. Browne, on the other hand, has no need to talk to herself or scream in anguish; her skills speak enough volumes this day and every day.
At one point, a siren goes off inside the gym, a shrill, ear-piercing fire alarm that turns heads of competitors and spectators alike. But Browne is too busy to notice, too focused to care about the noise. She toes the line again, utterly honed in on the imminent task at hand. She's on the verge of breaking her opponent's serve in the first set.
On the sideline at the net sits McCooey. Together, they won consecutive doubles titles at the 2008 and 2009 ITA National Small College Championships, the program's first two national championships, and they're together again on their old indoor stomping grounds.
After dominating a first-set tiebreaker, Browne walks off the court, that legendary smile gradually widening with each step. Reaching a seated McCooey, who holds her hand up in congratulations, the enthusiasm carries the moment too far — Browne whiffs on the high-five attempt.
No matter. Together, the old partners break into laughter, and Browne can, at least for the moment, rest easy.
Another set in the bag for the rock star who's won so many already.
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The Daily's Executive Sports Editor Ben Kochman challenges NCAA singles champ Julia Browne to a match. To see what went down, check out blogs.tuftsdaily.com/thescore.
