Behind The Racquet • Shares A Behind The Scenes With Tennis 10sBalls • ATP’s Jason Jung

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.

 

“Everything changed my third year at the University of Michigan, when I started to think that I wasn’t going to pursue tennis after college. I played my fourth year, while applying for internships at consulting firms. Right out of school I was working as a teaching pro and renting out bikes at Mackinac Island in Michigan. I was always told, especially after losing my job to layoffs, that I should play on tour. My friend brought me along to this money tournament, which I then went through fairly easily against some good players. That’s when I decided to give it a shot, but was only 75% committed. Immediately after taking the LSAT, I realized how young I was and how I should give tennis a true shot. Starting off in India, including the first six months of my professional career, was the worst experience of my life. I didn’t get my first ATP point until the sixth tournament. It was a lot tougher than I thought and it didn’t get any easier. Three years ago, when I moved up to 140 in the world, I had to get foot surgery. I came back, after almost half a year, and it wasn’t really the same. I was consistently losing. The combination of taking the losses and traveling alone was exhausting. You’re trying to get back to level you once played at and wondering why you are unable to. You are alone with your own thoughts for most of the time. You try to explain it to someone who doesn’t play tennis and they don’t quite understand. That was the year I thought I would quit. During my initial switch to play for Taiwan, I didn’t have financial support. It was a gamble to play under a new flag. I competed in the University Games where, after winning the gold medal, I felt somewhat like the “Federer” of Taiwan. It ended up sparking some inner confidence and companies started to support me, which allowed for a small team to travel with me. It is cool to look back on where I started. Tennis has given me a lot and as professionals we focus too much on the results. We aren’t going to play tennis forever, and the relationships and places we’ve been are far more important. I am finally better at putting things in perspective.” -Jason Jung

 

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You can follow Jason Jung on the links below:

Facebook | Jason Jung

Twitter | @jasonjungtennis

Instagram | @jsnjung

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