Kamonwan Yodpetch’s origin story in tennis has a near exact parallel to a slightly more famous tale.

Somewhere around 2012 or 2013, she cannot remember exactly when, Yodpetch’s father, Uyui, was watching a Grand Slam final and saw Rafael Nadal win one of his 22 major trophies.

Mr. Yodpetch saw the size of the cheque Nadal was holding, somewhere north of $2 million, and was inspired.

“He said this is how we can make money,” Yodpetch recalled on Sunday with a laugh after her first-round win at the US Open Junior Championships. “And after that, I started playing tennis.”

Richard Williams, father of Serena and Venus, had the exact same epiphany when his girls were little and that worked out well for the Williams family.

“He’s also obsessed with Roger Federer, my Dad, so he taught me to shadow Roger in everything he did.” Yodpetch said.

Yodpetch, 17, is still early in her tennis journey, but she seems well on her way.

Playing the Junior Grand Slams for the first time in 2025, she notched her first Slam win on Sunday. She defeated Anastasija Cvetkovic, 6-2, 6-4, and gained revenge after Cvetkovic prevailed at J300 College Park, the traditional warm-up event to the US Open for junior players. Incidentally, Yodpetch won the doubles title at College Park, partnering Zhang Ruien of China.

Hailing from Ayutthaya, a city of around 50,000 residents around 75 kilometers from Bangkok, Yodpetch has trained for years with the LTAT (Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand), and has seen better and better results of late.

She reached the semi-final at J300 Nonthaburi in her home country in April, and in January battled Kristina Penickova of the United States, who is ranked No. 5 in the ITF World Tennis Tour girls' rankings, to a very close loss. 

“I feel like I’m improving and playing well,” Yodpetch said. “It’s hard at the Grand Slams, but I feel like I’m doing well.”

Yodpetch has also found success this year on the pro tour, advancing to the quarter-finals of a W15 tournament on the ITF World Tennis Tour in China in May, and reaching the finals of two W15s in doubles as well.

Thailand’s tennis history has had some terrific pro players, including Paradorn Srichaphan, who reached No. 9 in the ATP Rankings, and Tamarine Tanasugarn, a former Top 20 WTA pro.

“I think it’s getting bigger and more popular than it has been,” Yodpetch said of tennis in Thailand. “For a while it was hard to find good practice partners. My best partner was my Dad with a basket of balls.”

Yodpetch is learning to get used to playing in New York, even enjoying it.

“It’s a huge difference, the people are so loud,” she said with a big grin. “But I really like it so far.”

She likes everything about New York, except, well …

“The Thai food is no good here, sorry,” she said, laughing. “Much better at home.”

Yodpetch will compete in the second round of the girls' singles on Tuesday.

A full list of results from the 2025 US Open Junior Championships is available here