“Emerson Jones” sounds like a law firm.
“If you’ve been injured in an auto accident, Emerson Jones can get you the money you deserve…”
Emerson Jones is actually a Aussie tennis player. I watched some of her match in the qualifying rounds of the Cincinnati Open last Tuesday.
She’s one of the top 140 players in the WTA. And there she was, on a random Tuesday, in a random city, trying to beat a random opponent, on a random court at the Cincinnati Open complex. Not Center Court. Not the Grandstand Court. Not the Champions Court. Not the Tony Trabert Court. Just one of the many outlier courts, each with a few rows of seats.
At #131 in the rankings, she’s right on the cusp of the draw (128 players each, give or take, in both men’s and women’s).
The match was close, but “Emmo” (as her coaches called her) lost in straight sets. 7-5, 7-5.
She lost to Lanlana Tararudee… great name! Lanlana is slightly higher on the WTA food chain, but still in the “qualifier” group.
FWIW, She’s the highest ranked player from Thailand, too.
As fate would have it, Emerson and Lanlana also had squared off in the previous tournament, in Canada.
Two kids, half a world away from home, trying to make it in a cutthroat sport.
If you look at the prize money totals for both players, you might be thinking that’s some pretty good coin for an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old. And it is. But there’s a price that comes with the prizes.
That prize money has to be split up among coaches, agents, trainers… all the cogs that feed the machine. And then there’s airfare, hotel rooms, meals, equipment…
Not to mention that there’s not much of an off-season for the sport, so you’re on the road constantly. Home is wherever you lay your head on the hotel pillow. And heaven forbid if you skip a tourney – it’ll drop you down in the all-important rankings.
If you want to “go pro” this is your life. Tennis seems like such a glamorous sport. And it is, at the top. But for every woman holding up the winner’s trophy, there are literally hundreds of others that are nearly as good, just trying to make a go of it, on a random court in a random city on a random weekday, trying to beat their opponent so they can do it all again the next day, and the next week.
It’s a lot more grind and grit, and a lot less glamour. Kudos to Emerson, and Lanlana, and all the other “also rans” who are still out there running.
You done said…