An inside look at a pro career cut cruelly short

Bassam Beidas was a three-time All-American at Pepperdine University, and his 76 career dual victories are tied for seventh on the the school's all-time list. After college, Beidas played in the pros and reached a career high-ranking of No. 499.

Recently, Beidas decided to call his tennis career quits at age 26. He shared his thoughts behind that decision, along with his experiences as a top-ranked college player and an injury-plagued professional, with TENNIS.com.

It has been less than a week since I decided to end the professional tennis chapter of my life. Despite my absence from the pro circuit for the past three years due to a string of injuries, it was not an easy decision.

My journey in this great but gut-wrenching sport saw me go from a young boy in Cairo hitting balls for fun to playing on the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon as a top junior. It saw me then move on playing for one of the most respected college tennis programs in the United States (Pepperdine) before finally ending up on the ITF Pro Circuit, with the hopes of playing full-time on the ATP World Tour.

Normally, that final chapter would be the most prolonged of the group, but in my case injuries cut my pro career dramatically short. Seven short months after I played my first post-graduation pro tournament in Morocco, my first injury struck. My professional rise was neither meteoric nor mediocre in that seven-month period: I reached four finals in my first five events (winning one of them).

I never felt like I was a player who would hit the pro tour and rise to the top within a year. I wasn’t ever good enough for that. That sort of rise belongs to the John Isners and Steve Johnsons of the college tennis world. My only chance was to stay on tour a long time, learn from others, learn about myself, discover what it would take to make it, and work like crazy to develop those skills.

After I was forced to spend a year out of the game, I knew that my chances of pro success were getting slimmer since I was missing key years of learning and development. I don’t know how far I would have gotten—perhaps No. 300 was my limit, or maybe it was No. 200. There were times when I had a very low opinion of my tennis self. There were also times when my opinion of my tennis game was probably too high. The reality is probably somewhere in between.

But there are two things I know for a fact. First, there are many guys in the Top 200 in the world that I have beaten. Second, I will never know how high I could have gotten and that knowledge will haunt me for a long, long time. The last time tennis wasn’t a big part of my life, I was still a young child. Now, for the first time in over 15 years, I can look at tennis from the outside.

Most of us start off playing tennis for fun. Eventually, you start to dream of Grand Slams, of what might be like if you are good enough. But little do we know what being a professional athlete requires, let alone what it takes to become a Grand Slam champion. I firmly believe that no one knows what it really takes. It’s a combination of luck and genetics, physical and mental strength, proper guidance and support, and who knows what else.

Those of us who carry the game into our late teens with relative success have two options: Pro or college. When I made this decision, I was the No. 20-ranked junior in the world, and I wanted to turn pro. Thankfully, I have parents who knew better. Playing college tennis was the best decision I have made in my entire life—not just the tennis chapter of my life, but my entire life.

If I had joined the pro tour at the age of 18, I probably would have quit by 19. Very few boys (because that’s what we are at that age) are ready for pro tour life as teenagers. Before going to Pepperdine, a friend of mine said to me, “I would give $10 million just to play one more season of college tennis.” At the time I thought he was crazy. On the day I played my last match against Stanford, his words came flooding back to me and I finally understood. I will forever be a strong advocate for college tennis.

Pro tennis and college tennis are almost opposites in everything except the ball striking itself. In college, you’re on a team, and everything is taken care of for you (including practices, tournaments, fitness, physical therapy and equipment). In pro tennis, you’re entirely on your own, and are essentially running your own business selling yourself to coaches, sponsors and agents.

On the tour, if you look over to the next court, you won’t see a teammate willing you on to fight harder. Instead, you’ll see some guy doing whatever it takes to get ahead of his opponent, and then eventually whatever it takes to get ahead of you. The internal motivation and physical stamina it takes to play on the pro tour is incredible. In a game of inches, you can’t afford to lag for one day or it will cost you gravely.

For years this was my battle. After shoulder, back and hip injuries, it no longer is.

Tennis players understand it’s about more than the end result. It’s about more than the destination. It’s about the journey.