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> I made virtually no lasting friendships on tour through my seven years, despite coming across hundreds of players my own age living the same life as my own.

by Liquix 2y ago

> I made virtually no lasting friendships on tour through my seven years, despite coming across hundreds of players my own age living the same life as my own. > Some players did go out partying locally, which I always felt was a stupid thing to do. Why put yourself through the budget travel, practice and expense to then go drinking in some remote and isolated corner of the world? I'm sure Futures events are isolating and lonely, but it seems the author was quick to cast judgment on the players who prioritized socializing over winning at all costs.

tpurves 2y ago
Indeed. By definition, very few aspiring players break through to be among the very top players. But I bet some of those socializing players at least came away from their journey with a little less loneliness and more lasting friendships.
bojan 2y ago
Is he wrong? That is an equivalent of weeknight drinking for us (remote) office workers. Showing up to work with a hangover is not a great thing to do.
- jononor 2y ago
  You do not need to get drunk, or drink any alcohol at all to have a good time. No need to go until early in the morning either...
- dukeyukey 2y ago
  I do not optimise my life to benefit my day job. And even if I did, socialising with your coworkers has a strong chance of being much better for your career than another early night.
- hext 2y ago
  You can go out for drinks with coworkers and not show up hungover the next day... Like, office happy hours are basically a cliché at this point.
- xeromal 2y ago
  Mentioning loneliness and then complaining about them socializing is kind of a self own
paxys 2y ago
Yup, on reading the second part I immediately went "this guy is an introvert". Nothing wrong with that, of course, and I'm exactly like that on work trips and conferences, bolting to my hotel room immediately after the day's work is done. But I don't really buy the "no professional tennis player has any friends" message he's trying to push.
- zem 2y ago
  the trouble is not only was he an introvert, but he did not seem to have any solitary hobbies, not even reading. i'm an introvert too, but i cannot imagine sitting in a hotel room and being desperate for something to do to pass the time to the extent that i would just sleep late.
NickC25 2y ago
>I'm sure Futures events are isolating and lonely, but it seems the author was quick to cast judgment on the players who prioritized socializing over winning at all costs. I'm not so sure. These guys don't earn jack shit, even if they win small Futures/Challengers. Taxes, equipment, travel, etc.. adds up quickly. Forget about coaching at that level. Not the right environment to go party with someone one night and then have to beat them the next day in order to put food on the table. Keep in mind that at this level, tennis is fucking insanely hard. A few guys from my high school tried that level (they all played D1 at top schools, a few were top 20 USTA as juniors, one made top 3 ITF and was highly ranked within the college game) and none of them fared well. These (challengers/futures level players) aren't some random scrubs - these are often times guys who either played top college ball, or guys who were top 100 ITF juniors (or top player in their country/region) who never had the game to get to the next level, or guys who were just not quite good enough to make top 100 ATP and need to grind every day to get auto entry to qualies at majors or ATP Masters events.
- braza 2y ago
  > These guys don't earn jack shit, even if they win small Futures/Challengers. Taxes, equipment, travel, etc.. adds up quickly. Forget about coaching at that level. 100% agree on this. I do not know in particular with Tennis but the same is true in MMA also. When I used to do blogging/reporting about MMA I talked with a prominent fighter about the economics of being an UFC fighter. In a nutshell:He was about to participate of an card event [1] and in case of victory he would take home USD 22-24K and he explained that whole preparation would be USD 29-32K. The costs were: - Flights (himself and his team with 2 trainers) - Sparring (if you need to do the camp in USA, probably we will have at least 3 sparring partners) - Special Medicine/Supplement (since the Nevada State Athletic Commission had some specific requirements in terms of anti-doping he could not have all normal supplements/medicine) - His agent - Pre-Camp / Camp (For instance if you're grappler and you will face a striker you will need to adjust your training accordingly) - Post-Fight doctors (general scanning and treatment in case of some severe injury) After that I was so shocked about how that economics did not make any sense, and he explained to me that the whole thing in UFC is just to build his brand and bring more students to his gym, and prepare his own gym for camp to other fighters. I have absolute respect for the rest of 99% in any sport because its a very tough business and its very different from what we see in TV. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_on_Fox:_Lawler_vs._Brown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_on_Fox:_Lawler_vs._Brown

by Liquix 2y ago

tpurves 2y ago

Indeed. By definition, very few aspiring players break through to be among the very top players. But I bet some of those socializing players at least came away from their journey with a little less loneliness and more lasting friendships.

bojan 2y ago

Is he wrong? That is an equivalent of weeknight drinking for us (remote) office workers. Showing up to work with a hangover is not a great thing to do.

jononor 2y ago
You do not need to get drunk, or drink any alcohol at all to have a good time. No need to go until early in the morning either...
dukeyukey 2y ago
I do not optimise my life to benefit my day job. And even if I did, socialising with your coworkers has a strong chance of being much better for your career than another early night.
hext 2y ago
You can go out for drinks with coworkers and not show up hungover the next day... Like, office happy hours are basically a cliché at this point.
xeromal 2y ago
Mentioning loneliness and then complaining about them socializing is kind of a self own

paxys 2y ago

Yup, on reading the second part I immediately went "this guy is an introvert". Nothing wrong with that, of course, and I'm exactly like that on work trips and conferences, bolting to my hotel room immediately after the day's work is done. But I don't really buy the "no professional tennis player has any friends" message he's trying to push.

zem 2y ago
the trouble is not only was he an introvert, but he did not seem to have any solitary hobbies, not even reading. i'm an introvert too, but i cannot imagine sitting in a hotel room and being desperate for something to do to pass the time to the extent that i would just sleep late.

NickC25 2y ago

>I'm sure Futures events are isolating and lonely, but it seems the author was quick to cast judgment on the players who prioritized socializing over winning at all costs. I'm not so sure. These guys don't earn jack shit, even if they win small Futures/Challengers. Taxes, equipment, travel, etc.. adds up quickly. Forget about coaching at that level. Not the right environment to go party with someone one night and then have to beat them the next day in order to put food on the table. Keep in mind that at this level, tennis is fucking insanely hard. A few guys from my high school tried that level (they all played D1 at top schools, a few were top 20 USTA as juniors, one made top 3 ITF and was highly ranked within the college game) and none of them fared well. These (challengers/futures level players) aren't some random scrubs - these are often times guys who either played top college ball, or guys who were top 100 ITF juniors (or top player in their country/region) who never had the game to get to the next level, or guys who were just not quite good enough to make top 100 ATP and need to grind every day to get auto entry to qualies at majors or ATP Masters events.

braza 2y ago
> These guys don't earn jack shit, even if they win small Futures/Challengers. Taxes, equipment, travel, etc.. adds up quickly. Forget about coaching at that level. 100% agree on this. I do not know in particular with Tennis but the same is true in MMA also. When I used to do blogging/reporting about MMA I talked with a prominent fighter about the economics of being an UFC fighter. In a nutshell:He was about to participate of an card event [1] and in case of victory he would take home USD 22-24K and he explained that whole preparation would be USD 29-32K. The costs were: - Flights (himself and his team with 2 trainers) - Sparring (if you need to do the camp in USA, probably we will have at least 3 sparring partners) - Special Medicine/Supplement (since the Nevada State Athletic Commission had some specific requirements in terms of anti-doping he could not have all normal supplements/medicine) - His agent - Pre-Camp / Camp (For instance if you're grappler and you will face a striker you will need to adjust your training accordingly) - Post-Fight doctors (general scanning and treatment in case of some severe injury) After that I was so shocked about how that economics did not make any sense, and he explained to me that the whole thing in UFC is just to build his brand and bring more students to his gym, and prepare his own gym for camp to other fighters. I have absolute respect for the rest of 99% in any sport because its a very tough business and its very different from what we see in TV. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_on_Fox:_Lawler_vs._Brown https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_on_Fox:_Lawler_vs._Brown