Influencer wants to be the Paige Spiranac of tennis world

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A former collegiate tennis ace wants to become the Paige Spiranac of the court.

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Influencer Rachel Stuhlmann, 30, is now turning heads and winning hearts courtside the same way Spiranac became the glamour puss of the gallery.

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She wants the sport of the rich to become sexy and accessible.

“I want to bring attention to this sport in a positive way,” Stuhlmann told the New York Post.

“It’s funny because there are a lot of girls kind of like me in golf, but there’s nothing really intense in tennis. And I’m like, ‘you know, you can be yourself, you can look a certain way and still be fun around this sport.’”

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A one-time ace at the University of Missouri, Stuhlmann transitioned to journalist and now writes a blog for Top Court, a tennis website. So far though, with 150,000 Instagram followers, she’s off the torrid pace set by Spiranac.

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When she began her pursuit to capture the influencer Grand Slam, the former tennis star told the Post she was afraid to be herself.

“I was like, ‘wait, I want to do photoshoots and show that tennis is cool and that it can be hot and fun,’” Stuhlmann said.

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“I know that what I’m doing is good for the game, and I’m just going to keep being myself and keep trying to make the game more mainstream and relatable — be unapologetic.

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“I feel like I’m in the game that has always been super traditional, so I was a little bit scared to really be myself at first.”

And she is quick to admit that Spiranac is her inspiration.

“I really like what she does in golf and so that’s what I’m trying to do in tennis,” Stuhlmann said. “I feel like I’ve been inspired for a while by Paige Spiranac. She posted a tweet that I could really relate to:

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“‘I used to be so worried about being taken seriously and pleasing people who didn’t even like me. Everything changed in my career when I started having fun with my content and doing what I wanted.’”

Now, she wants to collaborate with Spiranac.

“I respect her so much for what she’s done for the game. And I know that we have a lot of mutual friends,” Stuhlmann said.

“Someone told me that she wants to play tennis. I want to play golf. I’m like, ‘I will give you lessons.’

“Paige does her thing with golf and she’s a great person to seek inspiration from, but there’s nothing like it in tennis.”

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@HunterTOSun