Author: akeslo

Alison Van Uytvanck

December 1, 2019

December 1, 2019 “I was around ten or eleven years old when I first went to the Belgium Federation to train. I quickly realized it was not going to be what I thought it would. I began to be bullied every day by the other kids, who were mostly guys. They would constantly make fun of my hair and it would make me feel miserable. I never felt so alone, having no friends and unable to really talk to parents. I felt like opening up about my bullying, especially to my parents, would just make other people’s lives tougher and I never wanted that. After about a year of dealing with this I finally said something to the coaches. They spoke to the kids about the issue, which only helped for about two days until it went back to ‘normal’. I had no one to lean on for help and found myself crying in my room day after day. It came to an end when I was kicked out. Beyond not fitting in I was consistently injured and the people at the top didn’t believe in me and how my tennis was improving. It was the toughest moment of my (more…)

Jason Tartick

November 26, 2019

November 26, 2019 “I grew up in a suburb of Buffalo, New York, in a huge sports family. My dad was a college football player, my mother played lacrosse growing up and it led to me playing lacrosse, soccer, and hockey at a young age. The thing is I started to play tennis after I graduated from playing division three soccer. What I found was there weren’t many recreational sports that were competitive, social and also a good workout. For me, I just gravitated towards tennis because it’s all of those. It’s a heck of a workout and honestly, especially in my early 20’s, its a cheaper alternative than golf and consumes less time. As I started playing tennis more frequently, it became a sport that my friends and I play every Monday. We would have round robin tournaments in the park. Tuesday we put bets on the line for the weekly finals. It’s been great to be recently re-connected with the sport via a collaboration we did with Heineken at the US Open with Andy Roddick. It’s been full circle from recreational and social, to being across the court from Andy Roddick serving. A really cool learning experience. The (more…)

Steve Darcis

November 24, 2019

November 24, 2019 “I’m already 35. It is difficult that I am forced to stop, not because I want to, because i am dealing with too much pain. It is not my decision, but it is great to have more time with family. I have two daughters. One is six years old and the other is two. The six year old had a serious heart condition in early 2016. It got to a point where she needed surgery. After scheduling this surgery, I was playing in the Delray Beach quarterfinals, less than a week from the operation. It was okay because the surgery was planned so the date was no surprise. In my head all I could really think about was that but it took my mind away from the results which actually helped me play better. Before entering Delray I knew that if I got to the quarters I would’ve had to pull out. I defaulted from the tournament and I came back for the surgery. It was a really scary time in my family’s life but we got very lucky in the end. The surgery was definitely a bit complicated. They had to stop the heart to work (more…)

Dinara Safina

November 22, 2019

November 22, 2019 “I turned pro when I was 15 and I quit when I was 25. It was 10 years of quite an experience that came to a tough end when I fractured my lower back. Even with all the hard work and lots of pressure day to day, I really enjoyed my time and I was happiest when I could wake up and just get on court. It is funny, once I quit I was really missing the adrenaline and energy that you experience from tennis. It has been very difficult to find anything that can take its place, something that truly motivates me. I am proud of what I have achieved and am not blaming anyone for my injuries, just thankful that I was able to enjoy all those years. I still do not see myself coming back on tour like Kim Clijsters or Tatiana Golovin, but I can definitely see myself coaching and sharing my experiences with another player. I see many girls today content with what they are achieving, while when I played each person wanted to be better than the one ahead of them, more than anything. It is tough to judge when you (more…)

Bruno Soares

November 15, 2019

November 15, 2019 “For the first six years of my life I grew up in Iraq. My dad was a civil engineer and worked with a large Brazilian company back in the ‘80s. My parents moved to Iraq, while my mother was pregnant, to build a highway. My father moved first, alone for the first seven months, before my mom was ready to leave with me. I was about two months old at the time. It was a very interesting experience back then. Saddam Hussein was still in command, but it was quite a normal place, besides the cultural differences from Brazil. Few years after we moved the Gulf War began and we were forced to move back to Brazil. After leaving we lived in a few places in Brazil. We spent some time in Belo, some time in Fortaleza, four years in Rio de Janeiro and then ended back in Belo. This moving really didn’t stop until I was 17. I actually began playing tennis when I was in Iraq, starting around five years old while my family and I were living in camps. These camps helped us live along the highway my father was building so he didn’t (more…)

Bobby Blair

November 10, 2019

November 10, 2019 “I grew up in Orlando, Florida on a dirt road in a two bedroom home. My brother and I shared a bedroom that was filled with dreams of a better life one day. My mother was an incredible athlete. One of the sports she played quite well was tennis. At age 10 she made it clear to me that tennis was my pathway to a happy and rewarding life. 8 years later she sat in Louisville, Kentucky with only a few weeks to live fighting cancer, as I fought incredibly hard in the finals to win the USTA National Boys 18 & Under Clay Court Championships and the #1 National tennis ranking in the United States. My opponent was one of the best junior players of all time, Aaron Krickstein. I lost a marathon 3 set battle. In that match I knew I had a secret. I knew every sacrifice my mom had made was at risk if my secret was known. If my secret was known I could lose my scholarship to college, even though I was the #1 NCAA recruit in the class of ’83. The USTA would have likely not supported me or had (more…)

Juan Sebastian Cabal

November 7, 2019

November 7, 2019 “I was playing a future in Mexico in 2005. It was the beginning of the third set as I was running to a ball I felt something very painful in my knee. My opponent hit a normal volley cross court and while I was moving to the ball my foot just got stuck and felt my leg go in the wrong direction. I couldn’t move at all and was forced to pull out. I immediately went back to Colombia to get an MRI and any other test I would need. It was hard to hear that this injury would need surgery. It was only a week and half later when I was getting it done. It took a really long time to recover, about six months without any activity. It was about nine months until I started jogging again. I fought to play some singles matches after this but completely stopped playing singles in 2013. The fact I was able to even come back to competition was amazing. I had a huge group of doctors and physios who were working with me everyday. They would continually encourage me to prove to myself that I could return at (more…)

Alex Hunt

November 5, 2019

November 5, 2019 “I was born with one arm. I guess I always tell a shark story or something crazy when other people ask about it. I just have a bit of fun with them. I am pretty sure the umbilical cord got wrapped around my arm and just stunted the growth. For me, it’s not even a disability. I’ve had it my whole life so it’s become very normal. I’ve said this before, I look at people with two arms like they’re a bit weird. My whole family plays tennis; mom, dad, both my older brothers and grandparents on both sides. I guess I just grew up around all sports. I started playing all of them actually, then it got to the point that tennis was the one that I wanted to keep going with. I ended up going to college, playing first singles my last year, and decided I didn’t want to give up on it. Luckily enough, my parents are helping me, along with a few other people, so I can carry on and play the lowest level of professional tennis but for me that’s huge. I just love it. Two and a half years ago I (more…)

Ronnie Adams

October 30, 2019

October 30, 2019 “I am almost 50 years old and far from an athlete. Growing up I was slow and weak. Playing organized sports was never a serious option as I just could never keep up. I grew up in a small South Louisiana town that didn’t even have a red light. Baseball was big in those days and most of my friends played. I tried early on but it didn’t take long to realize that I needed another hobby. After age 15 I never played a sport again. The notion would come up now and again but it didn’t take long after picking up a glove or volley ball that I knew sports just wasn’t for me. Then in May of 2014 something horrific happened. I was working on a Master’s Degree in Public Health at LSU when one morning during class my phone started blowing up. My mother had been found in her home, murdered. There was nearly a year long investigation before a suspect was finally arrested and eventually convicted and sent to prison. This was a dark time in my life. I had twins under the age of two and I was trying to complete my (more…)

Melanie Oudin

October 27, 2019

October 27, 2019 “I started thinking about retirement around January 2017. It started with a torn muscle in my hand but that was only the beginning. I had gotten Mono and a horrible hamstring injury that sadly turned into hamstring tendinitis. I’ve done everything right to try and heal but it seemed like it wasn’t improving. I knew my body my would never be the same again. With continuous work I could get to a certain level but I needed my absolute best to get back to where I was. After extended time fighting back, I could tell 100% was impossible. It was mentally and physically exhausting and more draining than I could’ve imagine. Even though it was tough to admit, I could tell it was the right decision. The first truly damaging injury started in 2012, the end of the year, when I was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a rare muscle condition that releases toxins into your bloodstream. It then causes your organs to start failing. In 2013 I began to have had heart palpitations. I played for like a year and a half with them and didn’t know what it was and until we found out I had a (more…)