CREVE COEUR, Mo. — Whenever Amber Yin walks onto a tennis court, opponents know they better bring their A game.
"Amber's so smart," her training partner Lily Walther said.
"She definitely has the most devotion to the sport I've ever seen," coach Andrew Conley said.
"She's super consistent," Walther said.
At just 12 years old, she's every coach’s dream.
"I saw her hitting in a local clinic and I was like I want to work with that girl," Conley said.
As Conley described, Yin is the total competitor when she steps on the court and it’s all work, no play, well only a little.
"Not to be silly and goofing off,” Yin said when asked her approach every time she’s on the court. “I mean it's also important to have fun but there's certain stuff you got to improve on a tennis court."
That drive, and passion started at a young age for Yin.
"My Dad would hit with his friends you know, and I would be like alright Dad I'm joining," Yin said.
From there, it's been nearly impossible to take the racquet out of her hands.
“I'll wake up at 5:30 a.m. and have 6 to 7 a.m. lessons a couple times a week," Yin said.
"Not too many kids want to wake up at 4 a.m. to get out of the house and get to a tennis court at 5 a.m.," Conley said.
When she's not pulling two-a-days, she's in the back of her parent’s car, sometimes riding 18-hours to a tournament.
"When I go to tournaments, I definitely have to try my hardest so I'm not wasting my parent's money," Yin said with a straight face.
And she's not, on the national stage Yin has already won a gold ball, which isn't easy to accomplish. Especially when she is sometimes competing in age groups 4 years older than her.
"It shows she has great talent and guts to be able to come out here and play with older people all the time," Walther said.
Yin is making the quite the name for herself and it may not be too long before people all over start to take notice.
"When she even goes to California or Florida, people know about Ballwin and St. Louis, Mo. now because of Amber Yin," Conley said.