Becoming a Professional Tennis Player?

Question

Hey

I've been playing tennis since I was three years old. I played in competitive juniors all the way to the 16s. During high school I quit playing for about 3 years, and have recently started again. For the past few months its been 2 hours in the gym and 2-3 on court a day. I think I'm a pretty strong player. My question is, how do I go professional. I know I have to go through the satellites, futures, and challengers but I'm not sure how to start. I never played in the 18s to get those invitations they give for the tournaments and on the website it was hard to tell how exactly to start getting involved. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Well, I would first contact your USTA regional office  and see what they have to say.  You also need to play and win in any USTA sanctioned "Open" tournaments and win them to get a ranking in your area.  Once you establish a ranking in your region, you will then be able to qualify for bigger tournaments and so on.  The key is to play in USTA sanctioned tournaments.  Your results will handle the rest.

Good Luck!