MELBOURNE, Australia — Nicole Gibbs, a 19-year-old college junior who is an economics major at Stanford, wasn't about to make any financial decision without researching market conditions and past trends.
"I was super anxious about making this trip," Gibbs, the reigning N.C.A.A. women's singles champion, recalled of her decision to fly to Melbourne for the Australian Open qualifying tournament and a preceding warm-up event in Brisbane.
"On the initial acceptance list I was an alternate for both Brisbane and this tournament," she said, referring to the Australian Open in an interview Friday. "On the initial cut I was 8 out for Brisbane and 13 out here. My ranking was at No. 224 on the acceptance list, and historically the cutoff has been around 220."
Gibbs also accounted for the fact that a third W.T.A. tournament was being played in the first week of the season for the first time, which would make her more likely to get into Brisbane than she might have otherwise. She ultimately missed the main draw by just one spot.
"I wasn't sure if I was going to get into either event," she said. "And if I didn't then I would be throwing a lot of money at just a three-week vacation in Australia, which wouldn't really be fair to my family. So yeah, there was definitely a lot going into that consideration."
But Gibbs made it into the Australian Open qualifying draw, and by winning her first qualifying match against Yurika Sema of Japan she was able to earn $6,560 in prize money, enough to cover her expenses for the entire trip — which is as much as she would have been able to do without turning professional. To maintain her amateur status for N.C.A.A. eligibility, Gibbs is only allowed to accept prize money up to the amount of her expenses.
Gibbs started off well in her second round of qualifying match, taking the first set 6-0 over Tatjana Malek of Germany, the fourth-highest ranked player in the pre-tournament. But Gibbs was unable to maintain her lead, eventually falling, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3.
"I'm happy I made the trip," she said afterward, some lingering disappointment in the loss earlier that day clear in her voice. "Obviously I wish I would have done a little bit better, but I think given the circumstances I think I did pretty well."
Aside from the cliched encounters in Brisbane with koalas and kangaroos, Gibbs said she would most remember the feeling of having been directly accepted into a Grand Slam for the first time based on her ranking.
"Just being here; it's unbelievable being here in Melbourne, and actually having earned my way into a Grand Slam for the first time in my life," she said. "It's just a really stand-out experience, and it's definitely something I'm going to carry with me, and use that experience, knowing what it feels like to be a player here, and having earned it."
Gibbs flies back to the United States on Saturday, and will have to hustle nearly as much as she did on court to make up for missing the first week of the new semester's classes.
"It's still syllabus week, and I figured it wouldn't be too strenuous for me to miss it," she said. "But I'm going into a very tough quarter; I'm taking three economics classes, which is gonna be a whole lot to handle. I'm taking a macroeconomics class, world food economy, and an econometrics class, and they're all supposed to be pretty heavy loads."
And if she had kept winning in Melbourne, missing more class and fallen further behind?
"I figured that would be worth it," she said with a smile.
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