It’s only 9:15 a.m., but freshman tennis player Georgia Rose has already eaten breakfast, packed for a five-day trip to Wisconsin and taken a rescheduled midterm. Life has been hectic for the 19-year-old since she resumed her normal tennis routine after recovering from an early-season wrist injury that kept her sidelined for much of the fall.

Yet somehow, on this morning, she still manages to beat a sleepy Daily reporter to Norris for an early morning interview.

“It’s a pretty busy life,” Rose said, completely unassuming and surprisingly calm considering her demanding schedule. “But I really love it.”

The on-the-go lifestyle hasn’t yet fazed her, and in her first collegiate dual against Texas on Jan. 28, Rose proved she can handle on-the-court pressure, too. Rose left Austin with a doubles victory and a 6-2, 6-3 singles win.

Rose’s doubles partner, senior Cristelle Grier, understands the pressure that comes with being a heralded young athlete. Grier, who had a stellar freshman season herself, said she has a lot of respect for the up-and-coming freshman.

“I really enjoy playing with Georgia,” Grier said. “She’s a great person, a great tennis player, obviously, and she’s going to do great over her four years here.”

Rose hasn’t lost yet this year in the No. 3 singles spot. She took a clean sweep against Penn State in the Wildcat Invitational in late January and didn’t drop any singles matches at the National Team Indoor Championships last weekend in Madison, Wis. She even has a victory at the No. 1 singles spot under her belt.

Not bad for a freshman who didn’t even play high school tennis.

“I went to a small private school,” Rose said, “so I didn’t play on a high school team. I played a lot of U.S. junior events, and I played a lot of international stuff. I didn’t know what to expect with college tennis.”

So far Rose has shown she can handle herself just fine. Her international play took her all over the world, including an appearance at the Australian Junior Open in 2002, which she said was “one of my best tennis experiences I’ve ever had.”

Rose might have traveled the world as a tennis player, but she’s also spent longer than just a tournament’s length abroad. Like Grier and head coach Claire Pollard, Rose spent a good chunk of her life living in England. She also has ties to almost every continent.

Rose was born a Kiwi in New Zeland, hopped with the ‘roos in Australia and then moved to England for six years. But the well-traveled athlete said her heart is in the Middle East.

“We moved to Dubai, right by Saudi Arabia on the (Persian) Gulf, and it’s really small,” Rose said, with a slight English/Aussie accent showing through. “It’s probably my favorite place in the world, I loved it there.”

Just two years after living in paradise, she went from the Middle East to the Midwest, in 1999. Rose and her family lived in Chicago for six years before last summer, when her parents moved back to England, leaving Rose in Evanston.

“They come visit me here,” Rose said. “I went to England over Christmas break and over the summer to move in. I’ll be going back there at the end of this summer.”

But for now, when she’s not in class, at practice, or soaking up the college scene with her roommate, volleyball player Chelsy Hyser, Rose said she’s just looking to improve on her short-term goals rather than worry about the long run.

“I know I have a lot to work on,” she said. “I feel as though I’m getting better every match, and have definitely improved on my doubles play.

“I plan to stay here four years, but then I really don’t know. I guess we’ll see how it goes.”

Her team can only hope it goes as well as it has so far.

Reach Diane Yamazaki at [email protected].