ABILENE – Abilene Christian women's tennis head coach
John Walker Friday announced the signing of Claire Fisher. The 6-foot-2 inch native of Flint, Texas will join the Wildcats' roster next fall.
"Claire is an outstanding person with great character and tremendous upside as a player," said Walker, who just completed his first fall season as head coach of the Wildcats' women's program. "Claire is very tall and I can't teach height, but she's also quite talented and I look forward to helping her develop and refine her natural strengths and weapons."
Fisher has another connected to ACU and Walker, in that she is the niece of former Wildcats Mickey and J'Lynn (Kniffen) Navarro. They were Walker's teammates in the late 1980's.
A three-time district champion and two-time regional finalist with her team at Robert E. Lee High School (Tyler), Fisher recently reached the round of 16 in singles and and doubles semifinals at the Abilene ATA November Super Championships. She also fared well this summer in advancing to the doubles semis and singles round of 32 at June's Texas Slam.
Fisher's success came after experiencing an on-court health scare during February's regional finals. Fisher first felt tightness in her chest, and then trouble breathing before blacking out.
CBS19 Feature on Claire Fisher
After being treated by paramedics and seeing her doctor, a Dallas-based specialist diagnosed Clair with Vocal Cord Dysfunction (VCD). VCD is characterized by full or partial vocal fold closure, causing difficulty and distress during respiration, especially during inhalation. Fisher must now must utilize different breathing techniques to prepare herself for competition since there are only a few ways to treat VCD, which often can be mistaken for an asthma attack.
Fisher returned to the court a few weeks later and won all four of her District 11-6A Tournament singles matches in straight sets. She then competed at April's SFTS Dallas Super Championship, where she scored a consolation bracket victory after dropping a round of 16 match to future Wildcat teammate
Allison Stewart.
Fisher is a member of her school's National Honor Society and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. She intends to major in biochemistry or nursing with plans on becoming a dermatologist.
