He concluded the Open the Australia. Very few met their goals, they were completely happy. Most will look for a better opportunity. Although they were able to compete in the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, a prize that would be enough for many tennis players who sacrificed their childhood and adolescence, accompanied by families who left everything in order to fulfill a dream that was frustrated with the passage of time.
The champions remain, the epics like the one signed by Carlos Alcaraz. Although cracks like him are an exception. In fact, being a racket professional is already an important cut. Very, very few achieve it, among the millions who try.
[+] Watch the video interview:
A Mihali Nadja Manj贸n The only thing worth it was being world number one. His hopes were quickly dashed. At 17 he hung up his racket, which he recovered for a few years to attend university in the United States with a scholarship. She ended up burned, so much so that today she still cannot watch a tennis match. He still plays, for enjoyment, but he does not compete, because with points at stake the past hurts.
He has released a book titled ‘Those who did not arrive’ (on Amazon)as well as an account under that heading on social networks. The protagonist is Ana, although the story is Nadja, born in Santiago de Compostela in 1997, former WTA professional, graduate in Marketing and MBA from Louisiana Tech University.
Cover of Nadja Manj贸n’s book, “those who did not arrive”
He wants to share his experience, as a wake-up call to those who will try and as a catharsis of his own. “When I left the university, I left tennis completely, I said, what do I do now? And I started writing as a diary because I went to a psychologist who told me that what I needed was adrenaline and that I would have to parachute. Given that advice, I never went back. And I started writing, since 2020.”
The next step was to convert what was reserved to public. “I was not going to publish my entire life because it is very, very private, but I could share my life in tennis. It is helping me to forget a little and leave the toxicity that I had with tennis, and it helps other people not to go through the same thing that I have gone through, or even parents who read it and calibrate the expectations they have of their children,” he summarizes.
Because “less than one percent arrives. Sure,” he warns. He says it knowingly. Since tennis was just another extracurricular activity, chosen “because in my house we are two things. One, always play sports. And two, it’s all or nothing. We don’t do anything by half measures.” That’s how it was, the girl began training “to be number one. Not number 2, not 3, not top 100, not top 50. Number 1. If not, she wasn’t worth it.”
Nadja was 8 years old. The family’s pilgrimage began looking for the best possible training. First stop, Mallorca. “Because my mother had a good job and tennis was growing a lot in Mallorca. And there were very good coaches and people to play with. The idea was, Nadja, the whole family is moving for you, so that you can fulfill your dream of being a tennis player. What a responsibility, huh!”
From the island to Madrid. Her father dedicated himself exclusively to her and her brother left his job. “It depends on you whether the decision was made well, especially not being a wealthy family. For years I saw very little of my mother,” he recalls.
Next destination, Valencia, coinciding at the academy with Paula Badosa, Sarah Smiles and the latvian Jelena Ostapenko. “When I was 15, I entered the professionals. I felt I was at their level, but the pressure was increasing. There were more expenses and less income. It was either winning games or ruining your family. I was on the circuit for a year, I was nowhere near achieving a world ranking. But there was no more money. Sara (Smiles) He gave me some shoes because the coach wouldn’t let me play with mine anymore, since they didn’t have soles anymore.
“One day my head exploded, I threw everything in the trash”
With the family affected financially and without results, increasingly overwhelmed, “and one day my head exploded when I was talking about it with my father in the car. I came home, I told my coach and I threw everything in the trash. And three days later we were back in Galicia.”
What went wrong? “I had the physique, I had the blows, I had absolutely everything, but it blocked me. When I was 11 years old I told my father not to come watch my games. Not because he could tell me anything, but because he knew everything they were doing so that I would be playing,” he says. There were no sponsorships, “except Babolat, which gave me rackets for two years. I had another deal, but they ended up taking it Sarah Smiles”.
Nadja Manj贸n tried to be a tennis professional until she quit when she was 17
And at 17 he left it. “I wanted it to end and tennis was over. I closed the relationship with absolutely everyone, in my house there was no longer talk of tennis.” He dedicated himself to studying high school, “but I felt like a fish out of water.” He decided to go with a scholarship to USA. “That I have to play tennis, yes. There are many who work and hate their jobs. And I told myself, I will hate my job for four years. But at least I’m leaving, I’m traveling, I’m paying for myself and I’m independent.”
“It’s not the same pressure when your family can’t turn on the heating for you to play”
He played tennis “out of obligation. I told the coach that I would win matches so as not to lose the scholarship, but then she should leave me alone. It’s pure business. And if you don’t know how to navigate the business, they throw you out. The last year was the best, I played like never before. It made me very sad: What if I had always played like that?” He didn’t discover it, tennis was definitely over. Pressure? “It is not the same pressure when you know that the heating is not turned on in your house because there is no room for it. Surviving is not the same as living better,” says Nadja.
The anxiety of what to do came, “I didn’t know where to go, I thought the world was ending. Now I’m finding a balance. I had a very bad time, but life always gives you other opportunities. I don’t want mine to be seen as a drama, poor thing. But those who start in tennis should know that the normal thing is that you don’t arrive.”
“I would change for Badosa and Sorribes, despite the problems. They have arrived”
Paula Badosa and Sara Sorribes They continued and arrived, but they have also had their mental health problems. “Yes, but they have arrived, they have fulfilled the goal of being tennis players. I would change for them. They say that crying with nothing is not the same as crying in a Ferrari,” it means.
Following personal therapy, he acknowledges that “when I watch a tennis match, I feel a knot in my stomach. It closes with tension. I continue playing, but I can’t compete either. Not for now.” Nadja Manjon He has made his story, his history of those who did not arrive. Working in the real estate sector. And, above all, learning to be happy, “that there is another life.” For sure yes. He’s not even 30 years old.
