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‘Cadet Candidate Wimbledon’: A Tennis Star Enlists Her Backup Plan

WEST POINT, N.Y. — Katerina Stewart is afraid of heights. Still, she had no choice but to conquer the Confidence Climb.

This was not the same kind of fear Stewart faced when she played in the semifinals of the United States Open junior tennis tournament two years ago. Or even the sort of anxiety she stared down while winning back-to-back U.S.T.A. Pro Circuit women’s titles last spring.

This horror was real, and with the barking commands of her squad leader ringing in her ears, Stewart began scampering up a three-story, perpendicular ladder in which the distance between rungs grew exponentially greater the closer she got to the top.