Category: Story

February 7, 2021

#CelebrityBTR – “My love for tennis started ten years ago after a conversation with Venus Williams. She offered lessons and I started playing. After winning the Super Bowl, I did not think tennis would be very tough. But the technique is quite important and small things go to chance. The professionals make it look easy but when you step on the court, the ball goes all over the place. Tennis requires control and a lot of skill. Every year, Venus brought friends together for a mini tournament. The first year, I was not good. I played doubles with Venus’ sister and we lost. I found a tennis coach at Lifetime Fitness and learned the basics. I had a lot of room for improvement. I did not understand the game so I watched professional matches. I saw Venus play at the Miami Open, US Open and Wimbledon. It was nerve-wracking to watch and I held my breath during points. Ten years later, I played Venus in the semifinals of her mini-tournament. She had to play with her nondominant hand and I beat her but lost in the finals. When I left the Minnesota Vikings to join the Baltimore Ravens, I found (more…)

February 4, 2021

“My mom worked so I spent most of my childhood with my grandma. She took me to school and practice every day since it was dangerous to travel on my own. We lived in the Southern part of Moscow and I traveled an hour and a half through the city to get to practice. My grandma was getting old and it was difficult for her to walk from one bus stop to another. At some point, I told my mom, “I don’t know if my grandma is taking me to practice or if I am taking my grandma to practice.” At 19, my grandma passed away while we were in Russia for the Fed Cup. My mom was not sure how to tell me so I did not know for two days. When I heard the news, I was with my team in the hotel. We were scheduled to face France in the finals and I had to play a deciding doubles match. I knew my grandma was watching over me so I wanted to play for her. If I succeeded, I knew she would be happy. Focusing on her and playing for my country made me stronger and I (more…)

January 28, 2021

“At age four, My dad put a racquet in my hand. I picked up basketball a few years later but when the time came I chose tennis without hesitation. By eight, I wanted to be a professional tennis player. I cannot remember a time when I wanted to do anything else. I am in my second year playing a full tour schedule, one of the biggest differences is the social life. In juniors, players are focused on the court but spend most of their time off court together. On the professional circuit, players aren’t big on fellowship. I did not know many people when I entered the tour and everyone was much more focused on themselves. Over time, I found a good balance where I have fun but know when to get serious. I try my best to surround myself with the right people. I never questioned my path. Tennis is where I can express myself. In 2019, my mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. My parents did not tell me for three months. I was on the road playing tournaments and they did not want me to worry. When I found out, I did not know how to help (more…)

January 21, 2021

“At age 8, I played my first tournament. There were three players in the draw and I lost to all of them. The other two players got gifts but I got nothing. I cried a lot. My grandparents tried to cheer me up. They did not expect me to have such an intense reaction. I was young and did not understand the impact of results.  At age 13, my grandfather died. He was a big part of my life and this was the first time I lost someone I loved. It was a tough timeand nobody paid attention to me. For weeks, I did not want to study or go to practice. I would arrive at the courts and tell my parents I was too sick to play. I took time off from tournaments. For the first time, I got bad grades at school. When I had to move a test date, the principal said I needed to focus on school instead of tennis. My mom considered this possibility. I was bummed and promised her I could do both. My mom did not want me to have a tutor because it is easier to understand life when you study independently. When you do homework by yourself, (more…)

January 14, 2021

“My parents gave everything they had so I could play tennis. They sacrificed money and property. I worked hard because it was a tough time for my family and I wanted to prove tennis was not useless. I put a lot of pressure on myself because I wanted to change our situation. I was not playing well and my results were pretty bad. It was tough because the tennis world is very unstable. I wanted to stop playing tennis and felt like my career was a waste of money because I was not good enough. I lost motivation to practice. It would have been easy to quit and find another job. In 2016, I was ranked 217 in the world but it was nearly impossible to continue on tour. I was the second alternate for the Wimbledon qualifying draw but was not sure if I should spend the money to travel. If I flew to London and did not play, I could no longer afford to practice. I decided to go all in and we flew to London for more money than we had. I got into the draw and was very excited. We could only afford to stay for (more…)

January 7, 2021

“In 2012, I broke into the Top 100. I did not make much money so every match was important, especially Grand Slam matches. I prepared to play the US Open qualifying draw. There was a rain delay and my stomach started to hurt. I assumed I was hungry. I won the match and we walked to dinner. I could barely walk and bent over with pain in my abdomen. I tried to sleep but it was painful so we went to the doctor and he said I had appendicitis. He told me not to play the next round. I did not want to know how appendicitis could affect my body because I needed to win. I needed to forget about the pain because I needed the money.⁣⁣I lost the first set and won the second. I had full body cramps at the start of the third set so I asked for a medical timeout. I would have defaulted but was not thinking straight because I needed the money. I had a match point and my opponent made an error but the line judge did not call the ball out. I lost the match in a tiebreaker. I was very disappointed (more…)

December 31, 2020

“I have spent 41 years being a human. At age 6, I picked up a racket but did not like tennis. A few years later, I fell in love with the sport. I grew up in Yugoslavia during the war. A few players managed to leave the country but we did not have much money. There were months when we could not eat much or go outside because there were planes over our city and we had to seek shelter underground. I would practice whenever there was an open court. I also played basketball until age 13. I was tall and moved well so basketball coaches made me play against 18-year-olds but I did not like that. Perhaps I could have gone to the NBA. Starting at age 21, I spent three years ranked 300 in the world. I got down on myself because I saw my peers reach higher rankings. I did not have a coach so I traveled alone. I thought about quitting before I broke through on tour. In tennis, you cannot be realistic. You have to be a dreamer. When you are young, you are joyful and hope to be number one in the world. Then (more…)

December 24, 2020

“Soccer runs in my family. Both my grandfather and brother played for Columbia in the World Cup. My dad wanted me to play a recreational sport so I asked him to choose between swimming, basketball and tennis. He chose tennis. I started to play and fell in love with the sport. At age 11, I left Columbia and came to Florida. I did not understand one word of English. I lived by myself for three years and did not see my parents often. It was tough to speak to the other players as there was a language barrier and we did not understand each other. Sometimes I wanted to go back home. My dad told me to stay because I wanted to become a professional player. This was my dream and I had to fight for it even though it was not easy.  I never thought about quitting tennis but I missed being back with my family. Sometimes I felt sad after losing a match or tired from training. But I had to keep going. For three years, I tried to win a Junior Grand Slam. I visualized winning the 2019 US Open. My family pretended to give me the (more…)

December 17, 2020

“The most difficult part of my career was during junior tennis. At age 17, I had knee surgery and the doctors underestimated my recovery time. I did not play for nine months while I was living at the Spanish Tennis Federation. I was young and it was frustrating. I watched my peers leave for Junior Grand Slams while I stayed there alone. I wanted to go home but had to stay at the federation for school. I was not well. I did not have motivation to study so I would watch television all night until 3 or even 4 in the morning. I always had a good ranking but people said I would not make it on tour because I had bad character. In 2018, I thought about quitting tennis. I played Roland Garros and did not feel good about myself. I lost in the first round of the qualifying draw and blamed my coaches. That was the lowest point of my career. I said, “I have to change because I cannot continue like this and reach my highest level. Everyone around me is suffering as well.” People were speaking about me saying that I was too crazy and I (more…)

December 10, 2020

MyBTR – “Removing my large intestine both saved and changed my life in tennis. People have heard of Crohn’s disease; I have something similar but less well-known called Ulcerative Colitis and needed surgery to stop a downward spiral. Steroid medication inflated my face to the size of my racquet head and chemical rescue therapy double-bageled my immune system. I passed early mornings in hospital watching Andy Murray’s first retirement at the Australian Open and felt just a little teary. A new trial drug kept me out of hospital to watch the French Open from home and I got back to teaching physics and coaching the school tennis program. I knew I was back to form when an earnest pupil said ‘Sir, you’re so good at tennis, why don’t you ditch the physics and coach full-time?’ By Wimbledon, the medication had stopped working and I was back in hospital. I can only apologise to the other patients for my outbursts of anguish as Roger missed his match point chances. Surgery to fit a stoma bag was the final option. Now I play with a constant risk of damaging my stoma or causing a hernia. A protective and restrictive hernia belt feels (more…)