Don't Miss
- Nadal kicks off Mutua Madrid Open campaign with easy win over Blanch
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Thursday, April 25, 2024
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Wednesday, April 24, 2024
- Novak Djokovic Earns 5th Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Tuesday, April 23, 2024
- Rafael Nadal Commits to 2024 Laver Cup
- Mutua Madrid Open Schedule and Draws for Monday, April 22, 2024
- Casper Ruud Tops Stefanos Tsitsipas for Barcelona Title
- Former World No. 1 Garbiñe Muguruza Retires
- Fritz Flies Into First Clay-Court Final in Munich
- Munich Open Schedule and Draws for Sunday, April 21, 2024
- Home For Sale Minutes From The Indian Wells Tennis Gardens
- Ricky’s pick for the Barcelona final: Ruud vs. Tsitsipas
- Barcelona Open Schedule and Draws for Saturday, April 20, 2024
- Munich Open Schedule and Draws for Saturday, April 20, 2024
Behind The Racquet • Shares A Behind The Scenes With Tennis 10sBalls • ATP’s Dominik Koepfer
- Updated: February 24, 2019
Photo by Behind The Racquet via Facebook
Editor’s note: 10sBalls thanks Noah Rubin for giving us permission to repost these great stories. We wish him and this endeavor the best of luck. Great seeing Noah wearing K-Swiss and playing Solinco Strings.
“It has always been my dream to play professional tennis. I’ve never been good enough in juniors to even have a realistic shot at it. That’s why going to college was my only and last chance to keep my dreams alive. I had no junior ranking or any true results, so Tulane University and a small, D2 school were the only programs that offered me scholarship. I decided to play for Tulane, but it couldn’t have started at worse. After my first semester, I went back home to Germany. Right away, I started feeling sick to the point where I couldn’t eat or drink anymore. In order to figure out what happened, I was hospitalized for almost three weeks. It turned out I had mono. I spent Christmas and New Years in the hospital and doctors told me I wasn’t allowed to play tennis for at least 2-3 months depending on my recovery. With my scholarship on the line, and also my only hope to ever pursue a professional tennis career after college, I was unsure what would happen. I already missed the pre-season training trip and the head coach was concerned if I’d be able to play at all during the spring season. What if he replaces me with someone else and takes away my scholarship? What if it takes longer than expected to be able to play again? All these thoughts went through my head. A degree from school and my dreams were about to be taken away from me and at the time, all I could do was wait.” -Dominik Koepfer
****
You can follow Dominik Koepfer on the links below:
Facebook | Dominik Koepfer
Twitter | @DominikKoepfer
Instagram | @dominik_koepfer