College Tennis Player Research Paper

Tennis players dream of walking onto the court with a crowd supporting them, whether it be teammates or dedicated fans. Some tennis players will come face to face with professional athletes before turning twenty-two, while others will stick to playing college tennis. The reason why many college tennis players strive towards becoming professional athletes is because they are passionate enough about tennis to call it a career. Even incoming college players are debating whether to represent their university or join the professional tour after graduating high school. Universities do not provide players with financial support, which leads to the thought of tennis being nothing more than a hobby. Athletes will spend forty-three hours weekly practicing

Cici Bellis, a seventeen-year-old tennis player from California, turned down a scholarship to Stanford University so she could play professional tennis. Bellis revealed that she could always attend college later in life, but she is so passionate about tennis that she took a chance and became a professional player (WTA Insider). She played her first professional at fifteen years old, defeating Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova, a top ten player with a WTA Championships title to her name. Since joining the WTA tour, she has reached a career high ranking of 90. Taylor Fritz is another teenager who chose to play professional tennis. At nineteen years old, Taylor has reached the top 60 in the ATP World Tour rankings due to a run to the finals of the Memphis

The transition from college tennis to professional tennis is a big leap for most, which is another reason why athletes stay away from playing tennis at their university. Many tennis players who choose to go down the college route first are recruits from other countries. Ecuadorian tennis player Roberto Quiroz Gomez graduated from the University of Southern California in 2015, and he has notable wins against top players on the ATP World Tour. He has made nearly $53,000 since graduating from USC (ATP World Tour). I had the opportunity to speak with Lloyd Glasspool, a recent graduate of The University of Austin at Texas, in August. The British tennis player proudly wore his college shirt, revealing he was thankful for the experience, although he did not receive money from the university. Despite not providing money for players, there are other opportunities provided by college tennis. Emina Bektas and Evan King used college tennis as a step up to the professional tour. They won a mixed doubles play-off for the U.S. Open, and have played professional tennis since. Despite the success of Bektas and King, some graduates struggle making the transition from college tennis