Trista Niemann Fredell, BS’90, should have been an astronaut. The Air Force veteran has always dreamed of going to space and was even assigned to space training early in her career. But it was an improbable conversation with Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group and host of the 2012 Necker Cup, that brought her closer to her dream than she ever could have imagined.
While playing in the exclusive pro-am tennis tournament, Fredell made a bold suggestion to the British tycoon. “I said, ‘There really should be a prize if one of the amateurs can serve an ace past one of the pros,’” she recalls. “He said, ‘You’re right. We need to come up with something.’
“That’s when I suggested a seat on a Virgin Galactic space flight.”
Fredell, herself an amateur player who took up tennis just six years ago, says Branson, ever the risk taker, entertained the idea but ultimately decided against it. At $250,000 a seat, it’s easy to understand why. Yet the possibility, however so slight, was enough to make her want to ace one of the pros as she vied for the tournament title.
In its then-inaugural year, the Necker Cup was as unconventional as Branson himself. Held on Necker Island, one of his private islands in the Caribbean, the five-day tournament featured an unusual doubles format that pitted 16 teams against one another. Each team consisted of one pro (a male) and up to two amateurs (male or female), who could trade off for different matches. To make the teams as competitive as possible, organizers used a handicap scoring system, which gave beginner-level players a point advantage against others.
“Richard Branson enjoys putting on these types of games,” Fredell says. “He loves the idea of opening it up for anybody to win.”
Fredell and tennis partner Amy McCarthy, who both live in Colorado Springs, Colo., secured their all-expenses-paid trips to Necker Island by winning a national doubles tournament hosted by Life Time Fitness. All other amateurs paid their way through silent and live auctions, which raised more than $1 million for Branson’s charitable foundation, Virgin Unite, and other charities.
Paired with former Australian pro Mark Philippoussis at the Necker Cup, Fredell and McCarthy played against some of tennis’ biggest stars, including Novak Djokovic and John McEnroe, who Fredell says lived up to his feisty reputation by acing her “every time with his lefty serve out wide.” The highlight for Fredell, though, came in her match against Tommy Haas, currently ranked No. 12 on the ATP World Tour.
“Up to that point I’d never even gotten close to acing a pro, but serving against Haas I somehow hit it perfectly on the sideline and aced him,” she says. “I immediately ran over to Richard Branson, who’d watched the whole thing, and gave him a big hug.”
Amid the excitement Fredell again mentioned her idea of going to space, but Branson just flashed his trademark grin and they both laughed. She may not have won the tournament in the end, but who could blame her for pushing her luck? When you’ve already hit the shot of a lifetime, you might as well shoot for the stars, too.