Don't Miss
- Mubadala Citi DC Open Men’s and Women’s Tennis Draws
- Paris Olympic Tennis Draws and Order Of Play for Saturday, July 27, 2024
- Kitzbuhel Generali Open Draws and Order of Play for Friday, July 26, 2024
- Paris Olympic Tennis Singles and Doubles Draws
- Croatia Open Umag Draws and Schedule for Friday, July 26, 2024
- Atlanta Open Draws and Order of Play for Thursday, July 25, 2024
- Croatia Open Umag Draws and Schedule for Thursday, July 25, 2024
- Laver Cup Tennis 2024 Is in Berlin September 20-22 • Almost all the top men’s players will be playing
- Coco Gauff Named Team USA Flag Bearer for Olympic Games
- Kitzbuhel Generali Open Draws and Order of Play for Wednesday, July 24, 2024
- Croatia Open Umag Draws and Schedule for Wednesday, July 24, 2024
- Atlanta Open Draws and Order of Play for Tuesday, July 23, 2024
- Fils upsets Zverev for Hamburg title, Borges beats Nadal in Bastad
- Kitzbuhel Generali Open Draws and Order of Play for Tuesday, July 23, 2024
- Croatia Open Umag Draws and Schedule for Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Behind The Racquet • Shares A Behind The Scenes With Tennis 10sBalls • WTA’s Katerina Stewart
- Updated: March 2, 2019
![](https://www.10sballs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/52749936_459655497903900_1594197959405207552_o.jpg)
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.
“Around the age of 12 was when I realized that I was gay. I lived many years dealing with denial, confusion, and pretending to be somebody that I wasn’t. Tennis, unfortunately, is such a judgmental sport that causes people to believe that they need to portray a certain image or meet a certain standard. Hiding who I truly was for so long, led me to develop depression and anxiety which affected my play because I was worrying about what people thought about me rather than focusing on my game. I was always so afraid to be my true self because being gay wasn’t really accepted as is, and even more so in the tennis world. It took me until I was 19/20 years old to understand and realize that there was a life outside of tennis. Once I overcame the fear of being judged and feeling like an outsider, I finally was able to accept myself ,and by doing so, I found happiness within myself, a newfound enjoyment for the game of tennis, and was able to find the love of my life.”-Katerina Stewart
****
You can follow Katerina Stewart on the links below:
Facebook | Katerina Stewart
You can check out more Behind The Racquet stories on the link below:
Facebook | Behind The Racquet
Twitter | @BehindTRacquet
Instagram | @behindtheracquet