How does a junior become a professional tennis player?

[TommieF]

Say a kid here in California is ranked in the top 5 of NorCal. Then what? What steps does a junior player have to make to play in an actual professional tournament?

 

[Fee]

Step 1 - read all the other threads on this exact same topic/question in the Tips and Instruction section.

 

[WildVolley]

1) The kid has to develop into someone who can play professional level tennis. Most top junior players lack either the talent or the dedication and resources to reach this level. Some have exceptional eye-hand coordination but are two slow and weak to match professional level athletes. Others have the physical attributes but lack the mental toughness to make it.

2) The kid has to qualify and afford to play in the lower level tournaments and work his way up Futures and have a good showing there. If you can play well enough and have some sort of charisma, you may be able to get sponsors.

Good luck.

 

[TommieF]

Step 1 - read all the other threads on this exact same topic/question in the Tips and Instruction section.

Save me some time and posts some links to a couple of good threads. Be a friend.

 

[TommieF]

2) The kid has to qualify and afford to play in the lower level tournaments and work his way up Futures and have a good showing there. If you can play well enough and have some sort of charisma, you may be able to get sponsors.

Good luck.

This is kind of what I am looking for. This is not about me. I know a couple of juniors who are ranked high. I am just curious to what happens next. They do real well in NorCal. Now what. Are these lower level tournaments still just for NorCal?? When do these kids striving for the pro level from NorCal step out of just this region and play around the United States???

 

[tennis_balla]

Say a kid here in California is ranked in the top 5 of NorCal. Then what? What steps does a junior player have to make to play in an actual professional tournament?

Go to the ITF or USPTA website, find a Futures tournament in your area or close to it. Sign up and hope not enough higher ranked players show up and get into the qualifying. Simple as that.
....or play some prize money/open tournaments in your area first, get a half decent ranking at least to increase your chances of getting into a Futures qualie.
....or take $5000, go to Eastern Europe and buy yourself a wild card into a Challenger.

Thats it. Any knucklehead can get into a Futures tournament, ranking is not required, it depends on who shows up. If they don't have enough players for qualifying they'll take anyone who can pay the entry fee, if its packed well thats a different story of course. Most of the guys playing Futures will be playing open tournaments for money, so that would be a good guide of where you want to be playing wise. Good luck.

 

[Fee]

Save me some time and posts some links to a couple of good threads. Be a friend.

Save you some time? Okay, call Dale Hersch at the Davis Tennis Club and ask his advice, since you're in NorCal. Get your info from a real live person that you can meet face to face and look in the eye instead of anonymous people on the internet who may not have any real qualifications to give you advice.

Or, read this thread: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=321942

 

[TommieF]

Go to the ITF or USPTA website, find a Futures tournament in your area or close to it. Sign up and hope not enough higher ranked players show up and get into the qualifying. Simple as that.
....or play some prize money/open tournaments in your area first, get a half decent ranking at least to increase your chances of getting into a Futures qualie.
....or take $5000, go to Eastern Europe and buy yourself a wild card into a Challenger.

Thats it. Any knucklehead can get into a Futures tournament, ranking is not required, it depends on who shows up. If they don't have enough players for qualifying they'll take anyone who can pay the entry fee, if its packed well thats a different story of course. Most of the guys playing Futures will be playing open tournaments for money, so that would be a good guide of where you want to be playing wise. Good luck.

Good info. Thanks

 

[TommieF]

Save you some time? Okay, call Dale Hersch at the Davis Tennis Club and ask his advice, since you're in NorCal. Get your info from a real live person that you can meet face to face and look in the eye instead of anonymous people on the internet who may not have any real qualifications to give you advice.

Or, read this thread: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=321942

Helpful thread. I take everything I read on this board with a grain of salt. I have lurked for a while. I find credible posters to be helpful. My question is out of curiosity.

Thanks.

 

[Fee]

Helpful thread. I take everything I read on this board with a grain of salt. I have lurked for a while. I find credible posters to be helpful. My question is out of curiosity.

Thanks.

Gotcha. There's a swing of Futures events in the greater Sacramento area in June, if you want to check out the players or maybe even take your players along to see if that's a level of tennis they want to strive for. I know one of the tournaments will be held at UCD. You can find the others and the fact sheets for them at http://www.itftennis.com/mens/tournaments/index.asp.