General requirements of pro tennis pathway.

A lot of kids dream about becoming pro tennis player but only small percentage of them can live up to their dreams. It is not an easy job to become top 100 ATP/WTA player but it is also not an impossible task. By having in mind the general requirements of pro tennis career, you significantly increase the chance of getting there.

General requirements of pro tennis pathway.

Tennis is the game that can be played on all levels. It is possible to play this beautiful game in any country and at any age. We practice on a daily basis to get better but we also watch with pleasure how professionals compete in the major tournaments around the world. A lot of kids dream about being the next Serena Williams or Iga ƚwiątek but it is a really difficult task to achieve. The chances are small but the one who works hard and has a plan, increases the chance to compete in Grand Slam events. 

It is said that when you are top 100 WTA/ATP player, you make a good living. Of course, other factors like marketing opportunities have to be included, but looking just on athletic performance, being among 100 best players in the world gives you the chance to focus on practice and competition without thinking about the budget. However, cracking the top 100 ranking is the long term process that has to start quite early and has to include many aspects of holistic approach. Big careers don’t happen by luck – they are planned so if any player dreams about similar career, he has to be ready to meet many requirements for 15 or more years. 

In this part, I would like to give you some light on how to become the pro from the general perspective. You will learn how the career has to be planned and what aspects it has to include to give ambitious players a chance to fight for the top level. In the second part, I will describe details related to budget, practice or tournament selection (Here you can read how you should approach tournaments’ planning). The focus has to be placed both on general recommendations and specific factors’ implementation to progress, go through different levels and fight for the points and trophies on ATP/WTA tour. 

Become the pro is a mission. If you want to be one of the top 100 WTA/ATP players, you have to be better than thousands of players around the world. Nobody will give this opportunity for free. You have to fight for it on a daily basis and then, MAYBE, you will have a chance to step on the courts in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York. Generally, the pathway to become the pro has to include:

Early athletic start

Profesional players need solid athletic base. To progress at the beginning stages and to be able to deal with requirements of pro game, players need good coordination, endurance, speed and strength. It simply means that physical activity shouldn’t be done just during the organized sessions. Most of the time, it is the role of the parents to make kids interested in various activities during their beginning years and spend quality time while having fun and performing more or less complex games with movement. It is important to understand that we are not talking here about early specialization – kids should think of these activities as free play that doesn’t have the goal to “train” something.

Long-term vision

The project of being top pro player is a long-term process. The Nike company we know nowadays, wasn’t built in few years and successful professional career won’t be too. To achieve highest level in any area of life, it is important to take a look at your future and start working on aspects that will give you benefits in many years, not only here and now. To plan your career, you need specific steps to follow (physical activities) but also you need to be patient and believe in the final success (mental quality) to increase the chance of achieving your goals. Be happy with your current successes but always look further to make sure that until you become the champion of the most important tournaments, you work hard to get to the next level.

Holistic approach

Tennis career is a complex journey so players have to be ready for many challenges. Right from the beginning, it is of utmost importance to understand that player’s pathway has to be focused on many aspects that can increase the chance of achieving success in the future. Putting too much attention just to the tennis training is the biggest mistake that parents can do while seeing solid abilities in their kids’ performance. To become the champion, you need well-prepared body, strong character, mental skillset, technical fluidity and tactical wisdom. It is possible to create successful tennis career only when holistic approach is implemented from the early years of development. Think about all aspects and make sure that your kid doesn’t limit his work just to one of these zones.

Health

Many parents and players value hard work more over the recovery and health. I know that serious injuries don’t happen too often at early stages of development but the more you practice, the more your body have to deal with external load so if you don’t care about the aspects of health, you increase the chance of having more physical problems when you will just starting your professional career. Recovery between the sessions, proper food intake, hydration monitoring and relaxation routines are steps that can’t be omitted for younger players. Even with great serve and powerful forehand, if you have pain in the elbow or you strain your hamstring every other month, you won’t be able to go successfully on pro tour.

Let’s be clear. It is not easy to go pro and it is even more difficult to get into top 100 of WTA/ATP tour. However, there always has to be the next player who will join this group so you should never doubt that you can be this next name. The process is long and complex but knowing what to expect and focusing on daily requirements is a good start for anyone who has desire to be the next Iga ƚwiątek, Emma Raducanu, Carlos Alcaraz or Holger Run. In the next part, I will cover the details of becoming the pro including coaching, training volume and more. 

Marcin Bieniek is a professional tennis coach. You can contact Marcin through his personal coaching website http://marcinbieniek.info. Marcin has been working with USTA, top 50 ITF and WTA/ATP players. Author of tennis book “Tenisowy Olimp” and frequent contributor to TennisPro and TenisKlub magazines. He was a speaker at International Coaching Tennis Symposium 2016 and 2021 at Hilton Head Island, USA.