Category: Story

August 5, 2019

August 5, 2019 ”I grew up with this idea that winning was prioritized over everything else. That somehow if I came away with a first place trophy, that the people around me would love me more. I soon realized that these moments were fleeting. That the minor satisfaction the people around me felt would only last so long. That I wouldn’t receive the same feeling as if I played for only myself. To break this habit took ongoing, conscious effort. Tennis puts this stigma on losing to the point that only the winners receive the platform to speak. It’s truly sad that losers are barely acknowledged in a sport where defeat is an every week occurrence. We need to change the idea that losing equals failure, rather than something that takes place every week. I got to a point where I figured out that the match was the bonus. I was able to play the way that I wanted to, the style I wanted to. Once I understood these key factors I began to play more freely than ever. I found a love for playing how I wanted to without worrying about what other people wanted for me. The hardest (more…)

July 25, 2019

July 25, 2019 “It was last year when I sadly had a stress fracture in my lower back. It kept me out of competition for three months. It was an incredibly tough time for me which led to some depression. Since the injury was in my back I wasn’t allowed to do anything for the first two months. I had more free time than I ever had and I didn’t know what to do with it all. I missed the sport so much and all I wanted to do was compete. I clearly remember nothing else at the time was making me happy. It truly was one of the toughest moments of my career. I was born to compete and now I couldn’t and that’s where moments of depression came from. I would try to not keep up with any results from tournaments. Any time I did, by accident, it would make me really upset to see other players doing something I couldn’t at the time. I am here at home doing nothing while they are doing their best and improving. I had to continue to wait for the bone to heal to do even a little rehab. I just (more…)

July 14, 2019

July 14, 2019 “Growing up on a farm in rural New Zealand my tennis childhood was a little atypical. Through my early teens I was more interested in surfing and snowboarding than grand slams. I played soccer, nationally, alongside tennis until I was 15. When the NZ soccer federation told me I had to train year-round with them it forced me to choose between tennis or soccer. Tennis won out. I was drawn to its gladiatorial aspect and self-sufficiency. I missed soccer and its team aspect like crazy for years afterwards, and actually had to stop following the premier league because it was making me too sad. I moved away from my country home to a boarding school 8 hours drive away in Auckland City so I could do what I then considered proper tennis training, which in hindsight was very minimal. When I finished school I was consistently one of the top 2 juniors in NZ, had an ATP ranking, and had offers from quite a few universities in USA. Instead of college, I ended up moving to Slovakia to pursue a professional career, aged 17, alone, following a Slovak coach who told me it would be my best (more…)

July 8, 2019

July 8, 2019 “I knew the moment I snuck onto the ‘Tonight Show’ set when I was 12-years old, pulled off the sheet from Johnny Carson’s desk and ‘interviewed’ my late friend Della Barris, I would talk to people for a living and hopefully make them laugh and smile at the same time. To be able to combine that passion with my love for tennis has provided me a dream life for which I am grateful for every single day. I am an announcer, a host on Tennis Channel, an emcee, a husband, a son, brother and a friend. I also suffer from anxiety. I believe being open and honest about having anxiety was my first step towards my recovery. Secrets haunt you. Secondly, understanding I wasn’t alone helped me a great deal. Thank you Mardy Fish. And finally, dedicating myself to living a happy, healthy, drama-free life was what sent me towards my trajectory of success and more importantly, good mental health and harmony. We have to lift the vail and stigma of mental illness in our society. We take Advil for a headache, ice an injury, or pop an antacid in an instant….but for a myriad of reasons, (more…)

July 6, 2019

July 6, 2019 “Between 2006 and 2010, I was Canada’s top junior, winning Nationals U14 & U18, and being the 1st Canadian to win Les Petits As and the 2nd to win the U18 Orange Bowl. My skills, talents and success were largely the product of my first ever coach, my dad, and my training at Saddlebrook in Florida. I wasn’t developed by our Federation, Tennis Canada, nor their National Training Centre. In fact, anytime I did try working with their coaches and fitness trainers, I got injured, missed vital tournaments/matches and became borderline anemic due to their negligence. I also had to tolerate inappropriate comments, and was called a liar when I reported the incidences. Further, in my transition year from being a #5 Junior on the ITF rankings to the professional tour, my Federation promised me a “world class coach” to further develop my game, and then reneged on that promise and wouldn’t support or fund me unless I did everything their way. Their way included sharing a Tennis Canada coach with another girl, and not allowing my dad or Saddlebrook or any other training base to be in the picture at all. I couldn’t accept these terms (more…)

June 19, 2019

June 19, 2019 “I started playing professionally in the summer 2010, after finishing university and turning 20. I didn’t have any family member pushing me or traveling with me, this was my own choice because I loved tennis so much. I finally had more time to train and travel and went up pretty fast to around 280 WTA. I thought ‘great this is going to go fast’. Two years later I was still in the exact same spot. I was traveling alone every week, struggling to improve as I had no one to watch my matches and tell me what to work on. The academy I trained at was charging 1500€ for one week of coach salary on tour, meaning 6k a month, plus expenses. There was no way I would ask my parents to pay that. My boyfriend at the time was top 30 ATP and told me those words I will never forget, ‘Alizé, no one can make it alone, and if I’d been alone, I would still be playing National tournaments by now.’ He fought for me and found a sponsor so I could finally travel with the coach he thought was best for me. I was (more…)

June 16, 2019

June 16, 2019 “I was the first black professional tennis player & today I turn 99. I say it is no big deal, no cause for celebration, just another year. There are many things I can not do now, but I accept that. I enjoy doing what I can do. I have played tennis all my life: Played on my high school team in Chicago and was a finalist in state singles. Played at Wayne State in Detroit and was one of the first black players to compete in the NCAA Championships and the first to reach the quarterfinals. In college I wasn’t allowed to eat in restaurants with my teammates. They would bring me my food on the bus, where I sometimes would sleep. I wasn’t bitter, all I wanted was to play tennis. After winning the American Tennis Association Mens’ title I was given a wild card to play at the USLTA Nationals (US Open) at Forest Hills in 1955, as one of the first few African Americans to play there. In 1959 I was invited to join Jack March’s World Pro Tennis Championships, becoming the first black pro player. When he was a kid, Arthur Ashe said (more…)

June 15, 2019

June 15, 2019 “It’s truly difficult to become a professional tennis from a small country like Israel. I didn’t have to deal with the army since I was an athlete, but most do. My family was always surrounded by this sport. My brother, who is thirteen years older than me played on tour. My parents were both working in a tennis club, where my father was a coach and my mother was a secretary. I loved every moment playing as a child. In the beginning it was a lot of fun, especially since I was successful from a young age. Each age group I played in, I proved I was the best in Israel. When I started to play ITF events I fortunately continued my success by becoming one of the best juniors in the world. I was one of the first juniors my age to become top 200 in the world. After the jump, I faced some issues. There were financial problems where my parents couldn’t afford the sport and we weren’t receiving help from the Israeli Federation. Combining the lack of money, I had a couple injuries that made it difficult. At this time I was around 20-21 (more…)

June 8, 2019

June 8, 2019 “Ever since I was 12 I remember playing tennis with some kind of pain in my elbow. In order to continue my career I was taking painkillers until one doctor suggested surgery. After finishing a successful junior career at 16, I had to put my professional career on hold for rehab. It actually went well and I was pain free for 3.5 years. Other injuries were holding me back in the meantime, such as a herniated disc in my back and a twisted ankle. These were nowhere near the problems my sister faced. She had some kind of brain inflammation where they weren’t sure if she would pull through, but with a miracle she did. During this difficult time tennis kept me going. Little did I know the problems with my elbow were just starting. I was at a career high of 20 in the world in 2017 and maybe things were going too well. I woke up one morning during a tournament in Canada and couldn’t extend my right arm. After returning home, I found out I needed another surgery where they would shave the bone down and clean the joint. My positivity kept me going (more…)