'Most Messed Up Sport Ever': Thompson Opens Up About 'Not Glamorous' Life Of Tennis Pro
ATP
Australian tennis player Jordan Thompson shed light on the not-so-glorious side of the tennis lifestyle, which many forget.
Tennis is a beautiful sport, and the sport's nature allows players to visit many countries and experience many cultures. On a surface level, it sounds like a dream, but it's far more complicated. Yes, players get to go to Acapulco, Tokyo, New York, London, and many more cities but spend very little time getting to know the city and landscape.
Most of the time is spent in or around courts, leaving little time to truly explore unless the players lose early, which is never the goal. Australian players know it best, as many talked about the sport's difficulty on them.
They spend one month playing at home but then travel the world for ten months without a break, giving homesickness an entirely new meaning. Jordan Thompson is also one of those players, and he recently talked about the not-so-glamourous side of tennis.
It [being away for so long] sucks. When you first leave; that’s probably the hardest thing – but then, I guess, you get used to it. I leave pretty much from the Australian Open until the end of October. I don’t think people get [what you have to do]. They think it’s glamorous, but it’s certainly not glamorous, especially when you get flight delays, lose your bags, and you’re staying in a s---hole.
A longtime pro, Thompson has pretty much seen and experienced it all. From success to losing streaks, the Australian found a home away from home in Florida. It reminds him of home, and he enjoys it, but even the ability to own property in Florida doesn't make him feel better about the sport.
The reality is that it's a very brutal one, and only the few at the top really enjoy what could be described as a glamorous lifestyle. They can pick and choose which events to play, having endorsement deals to earn money, allowing them not to compete weekly. The rest of them have to grind weekly in order to afford a living.
It’s brutal. I read a stat before, where only the top 30 or 40 guys have winning percentages, like points-wise, in the year, so even when you’re winning matches, you’re losing more points [within those matches]. It’s the most messed-up sport ever.
