Sharm ElSheikh, Egypt

After months of monitoring the signup lists for ITF tournaments, I finally pulled the trigger to book my tickets and make the long journey across the world to compete in my first professional tournaments. Egypt, along with only a few other places, runs tournaments nearly every week of the year and has large qualifying draws, which helps my chances of getting into the tournament. I was still listed as an alternate, but the hope was that when I signed in on site, some players wouldn’t show up and there would be some wiggle room to move up into the qualifying draw.

I was officially off to play my first professional tournaments in Egypt. I had traveled to Europe the summer before, but I had never gone somewhere with such a different culture — and by myself. Going into almost a full 24-hour travel day, I remember feeling nervous about what lay ahead. I have played hundreds of tournaments in my life, but this felt different. I felt nervous, vulnerable, and unsure of what was ahead of me. Being on the tennis court would be one thing, but everything I had to go through to get there felt physically and mentally taxing.

After a 13-hour overnight layover in Istanbul (never again), I finally arrived in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Sharm El Sheikh is a well-known tourist destination with many resorts along the sea, and it was going to be my home for the next few weeks. The tournaments were held at an all-inclusive resort where most players stay on site.

When I arrived, I didn’t know anyone. I didn’t know how the sign-in worked, how to find practice partners, or even how to book a practice court. Things that had always felt normal and automatic at tournaments suddenly felt unfamiliar. Most of the players at these events had been competing on tour for years — some for more than a decade — and this was my very first one.

To help lower costs, I requested a roommate and got paired with a great person and tennis player named Nemanja Malesevic. Nemanja had just graduated after playing #1 singles at Mississippi State and had some ATP points from before his college career. Having him there helped a lot. I was able to practice with him and learn more about how everything worked while I slowly met more players around the site. Since most players stay on property, it actually became fairly easy to find hitting partners.

At the tournament site, there is also pre-qualifying. This gives players the chance to compete in an extra tournament before qualifying begins. If you win pre-qualifying, you receive a wildcard into the main draw, and the runner-up receives a wildcard into qualifying.

The courts in Egypt are very fast, a bit dusty, and often windy. In my first week of pre-qualifying, I won my opening match and lost in the second round, but I felt pretty good heading into my first professional qualifying match.

My opponent in week one was Filippo Moroni. At the time, I didn’t know much about him, but Nemanja told me he was probably the toughest guy in the qualifying draw. He had just graduated from Wake Forest University, where he played #1 singles and was ranked as one of the top college players in the country. Because he had just finished college, he didn’t yet have ATP points and ended up unseeded in qualifying.

I didn’t really care. My résumé compared to his was laughable, but once the match started that didn’t matter.

I came out firing. I was serving well and ripping backhands all over the court. It definitely caught him off guard. I played aggressive tennis and took the first set 6–3.

Then my mind started wandering.

I began thinking about the end of the match — how good it would feel to win, who I would tell about the result, and what the next round would look like. Those thoughts alone started to unravel everything.

I lost the second set 6–0 and the match tiebreaker 10–2. I was never able to mentally reset, and the match was over before I even really understood what had happened.

Moroni went on to qualify and win multiple rounds in the main draw. He is now around a 14 UTR and has climbed to roughly the top 500 in the ATP rankings, and that number will likely keep rising.

Even though I lost, I left the match with a lesson learned. I was happy that I came out strong and competed well early, but it was clear that this level was going to be a lot tougher than I had imagined.

Over the next two weeks, I continued playing both pre-qualifying and qualifying. I had multiple wins in pre-qualifying, including reaching the semifinals one week, where I lost in three sets and was just one win away from earning a main-draw wildcard.

In the second week of qualifying, I played Dax Donders, a Dutch player who had been ranked inside the top 400 in ATP doubles and inside the top 1000 in singles. He beat me in straight sets, but I felt like I competed well and made him earn the win.

In the final week, I played Ukrainian player Vadym Konovchuk, another player with ATP points but someone I felt I could beat. I played a really solid first set but lost 6–4. My opponent became frustrated with a few of my calls and started making retaliation calls, and it got under my skin. For some reason I lost my composure and the fight in me faded. It was the last match of the day, played under the lights with nobody around — just me and him — and I felt very alone out there.

Three weeks had passed, thousands of dollars had been spent, and I had traveled halfway around the world. I was leaving Egypt without a single qualifying win.

That was tough.

I felt like a bit of a failure and spent some time journaling and reflecting on the trip and the lessons learned. The physicality, intensity, and margins at the professional level were extremely high. I also struggled with imposter syndrome. I kept wondering if I belonged there and if other players were judging my level. Even during warmups and practice sets, I sometimes felt tight and unsure of myself.

I had to remind myself that this was normal. Many players go weeks or even months without wins when they first start competing professionally. This was my first experience at this level, and I needed to trust the process.

On my way home, I stopped in Cairo for a few days to explore the city and clear my mind. I visited the Great Pyramids of Giza, explored museums, and even rode a camel. Cairo was a massive culture shock. The driving is pure organized chaos — it felt like there were absolutely no rules on the road. I was ready to leave after a few days.

Despite the tough results on the court, the trip was still an incredible experience. Traveling the world to compete in tennis is something I’m extremely grateful for, and I always want to make time to explore the places I visit. Moments like seeing the pyramids help balance out the intensity of the tennis lifestyle.

After such a long trip, though, I was very happy to finally head home and see my friends and family again.