Behind The Racquet • Shares A Behind The Scenes With Tennis 10sBalls • WTA’s Danielle Lao

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.

 

“As a senior at USC, I was giving my last season everything I had, physically, emotionally, and socially. I planned on hanging up my racquets after, so it felt imperative to end my career on a high note. Because I felt so close to my teammates, I knew it would be special to achieve something big together. As NCAAs got closer, we built great momentum to be a top contender. The pressure was on and expectations were high. Losing in the Sweet 16 was far from what we imagined and was a heartbreaking loss to swallow. I sat in my hotel room afterwards and thought about how it all didn’t feel right. The loss aside, I knew it was wrong to end my tennis career with this feeling in my gut. The next couple months were quite confusing for me. While I was finishing up units in summer school, I was interviewing for jobs. I was conflicted to be working so hard to get something I did not want. Eventually I picked up a racquet again to blow off some steam, and it just felt right. The love was still there and I was not ready to let tennis go. Joining the professional circuit was one of the scariest things I have ever put my ego through. If I wasn’t going to use my college degree to work towards financial independence, I needed to make this endeavor worth it. My family helped me financially and my coach agreed to be compensated with lunches after practice. There was constant fear on whether I would ever been good enough to make it all worthwhile. After four years of grinding, I finally built enough points to make my first grand slam qualifying. Being in New York and playing my way into the main draw, blew me away. I have always felt a tier below my peers, so in my mind, things like this aren’t suppose to happen to people like me. My only explanation for the unexpected is that I had the right people (my family, coaches, friends, and teammates) to empower me. Every day I step out onto the court, I do it for everyone that has embraced my love for the game, because I know I was not built to do it alone.”-Danielle Lao

 

****

 

You can follow Danielle Lao on the links below:

Facebook | Danielle Lao

Twitter | @TheLittleGiant

Instagram | @thelittlegiant

You can check out more Behind The Racquet stories on the link below:

Facebook | Behind The Racquet

Twitter | @BehindTRacquet

Instagram | @behindtheracquet

 

Check out the great new logo for Behind The Racquet!