Tennis is one of the world’s most popular sports, being watched and played by hosts of people across the globe each and every day. For most people, tennis is an entertaining sport to watch on television or a fun past time to be kept as a hobby. But there are those ambitious few who see tennis as something more and aspire to make a career out of playing tennis professionally. Being a pro tennis player means dedicating your life to a sport that is as tough as it is popular.

If you’re wondering how to become a professional tennis player, it’s important first to ask yourself if that is a wise decision, and whether it’s truly a career path that suits you. Taking some time to reflect on your choice will make sure you’re following the path that’s right for you. So what exactly do you need to consider when thinking of becoming a professional tennis player?

Career Decisions

Before considering any career option, it’s important to plan how you’re going to make your decisions. There are several aspects to doing career research that will ensure you have the best overview of your possibilities and which you are most suited to.

When creating your career decision plan, it’s a good idea to look at papers and see how other students have approached the task. Check out free essay samples of writing about how to handle making career choices to find inspiration. Reading a broad range of essay examples free of charge, tonnes of which can be found on a good site with free essays, will give you a great idea of how other people have approached tough decisions and leave you feeling confident as you embark upon making yours!

One thing you’ll notice being crucial to making an informed career decision, such as whether to try your hand as a professional tennis player, is making sure you have all the facts.

Professional tennis players: The facts

• How many? At the moment, there are currently around 1,800 professional tennis players in the world.
• What is a professional tennis player’s salary? The average career prize earnings of a professional tennis player have been calculated at around $300,000.
• What does it cost to compete? The average cost of competing professionally in tennis was calculated at an average of $38,800 for male players and $40,180 for female players in the year 2013.
• Does age matter? Thirty years ago, the average age of a professional tennis player was 23.74 for men and 22.56 for women. However, nowadays, the average age of a pro tennis player is understood to be 28.26 for men and 25.8 for women – so the age is rising!

What does it take to become a professional tennis player?

• Stay in shape: Playing tennis is physically demanding and requires maintaining your body at peak performance. Doing light cardio at least three times a week, accompanied by lightweight training, is a great way to keep yourself fit. In addition to this, maintaining healthy eating habits is crucial to keeping a physical state worthy of a pro tennis player.
• Training: Playing any sport at a professional level requires a lot of hard work and keeping your skills honed to perfection. Most professional sports players will be training at least six times a week, meaning you need a lot of time to dedicate to the sport.
• Determination and ambition: Making a commitment to becoming a professional sportsperson requires an incredible amount of dedication and ambition. However, the high risk involved in taking such a career decision is definitely justified by the high reward of being successful! Consulting some of the many free essay samples available online, in which people discuss their own experiences with ambition and success, is a great way of finding motivation and inspiration.

With all this in mind, you have the facts and tools for reflection that you need to ask yourself: do you have what it takes to become a pro tennis player?