Tennis: Forging A Better Person

To the average person, tennis may seem like it is just two people smacking a ball back and forth until one person misses. But little do they know what it really takes to reach the professional level or even play out a real competitive point. Tennis is like chess, you are trying to figure your opponent’s motives and strategy out so you can use it against them and break them down. You have to know what move they are going to make before they make it and if you are wrong, well then you have lost. The sport is as mental of a game as it gets, unlike chess you don’t have the luxury of time on your hands. Players have to make those intuitive decisions on what their next move is in a spit second and there is no room for error. If you take one split step the wrong way or hesitate the slightest bit, you will be too slow to get to return your opponents shot. Tennis is much more than it seems at face value, people underestimate what it really takes to play and make it in this sport. That is why I have so much respect for the professionals that play this sport.

Being a professional tennis player is an achievement that most only dream of. Being a top ten player, most can’t even imagine. The work these players put in to just stay relevant is amazing. Imagine you are playing the highest level of tennis at the U.S. Open in New York, under the lights of Arthur Ash Stadium, the main stadium at the biggest tournament in all of tennis. You are in a fifth set tiebreaker, five hours into the match and your limbs feel like rubber. You are barely able to even lift them, but you hear thousands of fans chanting your name and you don’t want to let them down. Your opponent tosses the ball up and serves which in reality is going to be to you...

... middle of paper ...

...y favorite player and athlete in general. He inspires me to be a better person. From a young age, whenever I would catch myself in a rough spot during a match I would always find myself asking, what would roger do? And I did what I had seen him do a million times over, keep myself poised, composed and on my toes. Ready for anything to come my way but never to be overwhelmed by it. Like all aspects of tennis, I applied what I learned on the court to my every day life and it has helped ever since. Records will always continue to be broken and the bar will continue to be raised. Not only in tennis, but every sport, and every aspect of life. There is always room for improvement and there is never a limit to reach. That is one thing that tennis has instilled in me, never stop working for what you want, no matter how far away that goal might seem. Anything is attainable.