FARMINGTON, Utah — The Kansas City Chiefs may have Taylor Swift, but their opponent in Sunday's Super Bowl have a teenage tennis phenom from Farmington who has blown up on social media.
Anna Frey already had a pretty big social media following as an elite tennis player, but it went to the next level after a viral video was posted about five months ago.
In it, Frey answered a goat when asked for her favorite animal.
"I made a goat sound," Frey described. "It just blew up out of nowhere."
In that video, someone posted a comment saying the 16-year-old looked a lot like San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, and from there, things caught fire.
"...and then it was just a whole bunch of other comments that said that same thing. I went and bought a Brock Purdy jersey for the playoffs and I made a TikTok about it and that blew up, too," explained Frey.
Chubba Purdy, Brock's brother, posted another video saying "Anna Frey is going to the Super Bowl" after the quarterback led the 49ers to a win in the NFC Championship Game; her response showing her patiently waiting for her invite to the big game has since drawn over 25 million views.
"It's crazy," she said. "I've gotten recognized in public so much. It's crazy, but it's so fun, I love it."
"It's been drinking out of a firehose," explained Anna's father, Tanner. "Trying to navigate it, understanding it, what it all means. People calling and chanting her name in different places. It's been a lot. We mostly just want to make sure she stays safe, keeps a level head and stays focused on tennis."
Frey realized she was pretty good at tennis at 14 years old when she started winning at levels two ages above her.
",,,and that's when I was lstarting to love it even more, and I was like, 'Okay, I can win,' I was like, 'I'm pretty good.'"
Since then, Anna has won the Utah 6A state tennis championship as a freshman at Farmington, but now her focus is on bigger events. She is currently ranked No. 3 in the USTA national rankings and just won her first pro level event in California in December.
"I just got back from London and that was cool," she said. "I love it there."
Frey took up tennis at around seven years old, and she's been hitting balls with her older brother ever since. Charles is a great player in his own right having just signed to play at the University of Utah next season.
"He's the secret weapon. He is absolutely the key to her success, a huge part of it," said Tanner.
The family says Frey's success is a total team effort, combined with coach Georgy Batrakov, but that it's Anna who goes out and wins.
Of course, even after Anna's on-court and social media success, the family rivalry between her and her brother remains strong.
"I mean, she's for sure achieved more than me, but I think i can still beat her in practice and stuff," Charles said,
It may sound like a bold claim, but it's one Anna agrees with.
"He beats me all the time," she said. "Beats up on me, but it's good, that's what makes me better. I want to beat him so bad, though."
Anna plans on playing tennis in college, but also dreams of playing as a professional at the highest level.
"I want to be pro. I want to be on tour, play a U.S. Open, Australian Open, all the grand slams," she said. "I watch it and I'm like, 'Oh, I could do that!"
While her future in tennis is bright, the question had to be asked: five years from now, would she rather be more famous for tennis or social media?
"Definitely a tennis player," she replied, "but a tennis player can help with social media, too! So maybe both!
