At any level, tennis is a difficult sport to play. But in the pros, it’s undoubtedly one of the most difficult. The margins between a win and a loss are razor-thin, as are the margins between someone ranked No. 50 in the world and someone ranked No. 250. The competition is unrelenting, and typically, some part of your body almost always hurts.
The brutal schedule allows no reprieve. Every point you win on the court is up to you. It’s hard enough battling your opponent, but for players like Venus Williams, who suffers from Sjogren's syndrome, and Danielle Collins, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, some days they are fighting two opponents at once. Every day can be a challenge.
The same goes for J.C. Aragone, who not only suffers from type 1 diabetes, but was nearly on his deathbed in 2012 due to a severe allergic reaction to his acne medication. He was comatose for three weeks.
“I was 16, training in Boca with the USTA, about to go to South America for some futures and ITF tournaments,” Aragone said. “All of a sudden I started feeling bad and started breaking out in rashes. My parents immediately flew me to the ER. My immune system started attacking all my organs, my body was in such pain that it shut itself down for a couple weeks. When I woke up I had liver failure, kidney failure, my spleen was shutting down, I was in really bad shape. They gave me steroids and every time I would get off the medication something else would attack my internal organs.”
Doctors think it’s likely that the type 1 diabetes Aragone now suffers from arose from his internal organs being under intense stress, but they still aren’t positive.
All in all, it took Aragone over 18 months to return to the court. It’s not like he broke an ankle as a 12-year-old; Aragone was sidelined during perhaps the most important developmental period for any tennis player. But instead of dwelling on his unfortunate timing and nightmarish health problems, Aragone is focusing on the silver linings.
“At the time everything went by so quickly and I was just fighting to stay alive. I missed an important part of any junior players' career to gain confidence and try and make the transition into the pros. That was my plan but the setback I had changed my perspective and decided to go to college.”
Perhaps it was at the University of Virginia, where Aragone would help his team win three NCAA championships, that he developed his entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen. This week at the Altec/Styslinger Foundation Exhibition in Miami, he has balanced being a player and tournament director, plus acting as the tournament stringer.
“If I mess up Querrey’s racquet tomorrow I’m blaming it on this interview,” Aragone said. Fair enough.