Skip to main content

Update from America

by Jack Waldon

I have been in the States for almost three years now, and just like most things the time is flying by. It still feels like I just arrived here with only one suitcase, into an empty room in the middle of nowhere. West Virginia is the complete opposite to London in almost every way. There are just miles and miles of mountains and forest, and hundreds of stories about people getting lost in the woods.

What I came here for though is my tennis, and living my dream of playing college tennis has been everything I wanted it to be. After two seasons of tennis, I have two national medals, one regional championship, and two conference second place medals. I have traveled across the country through cities and deserts to play matches, with a team that has become a family. Although being stuck in a six seater minivan with eight guys can be a killer sometimes, I would’nt want to do it with anyone else.

Our team consists of 14 players including only three Americans. We have a number one doubles pair ranked top ten in the nation, four Brazilians, two Australians, two Spaniards, one Ecuadorian, and a Jamaican. I am proud to play with these guys, and the hard work we all put in together shows in how we are as a team. We win together and lose together, even if you are not the one playing the match. When you spend three hours a day practicing, and hours a week in the library studying together, you have no choice but to become close. The best part about being here is those guys on my team, hands down.

Last season we made it to the Sweet Sixteen tournament, which is the final round of Nationals. The best sixteen teams in the nation, and we were by far the worst there, but we made it. There where players on some teams who used to be top three hundred ATP ranked. Six foot five, fourteen stone beasts of men. It is the first time I have had a 130mph serve at me, and I did almost poop myself.

We got treated like pros there though. Free bags, shirts, hats, food, drinks, and a player conference and photo shoot. Who needs to go pro when you can have all this. Five star hotel all paid for in Phoenix, Arizona, that’s the life. We lost first round to a team called Hawaiian Pacific, who had the number one doubles and singles player in the nation on their side. He was twenty five, and used to train with Rafa.

That trip and this whole experience is the best part of my life, and I still have two more seasons left. This year nationals is in Florida, so Disneyland is calling!

Keep up all the good work at Hylands!