I played the number 1 from Afghanistan and he couldn’t look like a top 300 player even in soviet era closed circuits. I had imagined he would be like Bahrami, a hidden gem but his strokes looked like he had made them up. Really hit him as soon as he got out of his country.
If you want a reality check go somewhere like Madeira and play a seasoned old coach in high humidity on a slick court. The kind of vet who will never miss and run you round until you are dripping wet. Short little punchy strokes that are repeatable all day long.
And if that doesn’t convince you that you are in fantasy land sign up for a minor tournament in France that might attract a handful of top 300 French players - you won’t get a racquet on the ball.
When I was 19 (and a 4.0) and Collin was 16 (also a 4.0) we entered a $10,000 cash tournament at College Park in MD for fun and experience vs. good players. Denis Kudla was the top seed at about 16 years in age and #500 in the world or something like that.
Even just a couple years into the sport, Collin was already thinking about pro play. As
@S&V-not_dead_yet said, those who create goals achieve more than those who do not, Collin reached a career high of 975 on the ATP tour and is now a pro pickleball player.
Anyways, I played against T. Huey, who several years later reached a career high of 18 in the world in doubles. I got blasted 6-0 6-0 off the court in less than 20 min, and not a single rally lasted more than 3 balls. His first serve often reached 130 mph and even standing as far back as possible, I could not react to it.
In Collins first round, he played against a guy in his mid 30s who reached a career high of 300 when he was grinding on tour. This player now played tennis just once every two weeks and entered this tournament to try to win some “easy” money.
Collin lost 6-1 6-0. This opponent clearly took it easy on Collin, but they enjoyed some decent rallies together. This guy did not have a big serve or big groundies, but moved beautifully and had amazing depth, placement, and consistency.
Collin’s opponent was fated to play against T. Huey in the next round, and after Collin’s dad saw that he said, “ah bad luck, I guess this is as far as you go huh,” blindly assuming a skill gap based on the power differences between the two players.
Collin’s opponent replied, “get ready to eat your shoe, I’ve never lost to Huey before.” Collin’s opponent won the match 7-6 6-1 doing an amazing job of neutralizing Huey’s big serve and powerful groundstrokes while playing patient and smart tennis not allowing Huey to attack yet also somehow forcing errors from Huey using a combination of slices, high topspin, angled short balls, among other tactics.
Tennis is not about beautiful strokes, or hitting hard shots, it’s about winning points by any legal means necessary by whatever method you desire.
I maintain that I could create a highlight reel only that allowed me to look like a top 300 player.