James McGee lost his third and final qualifier for the Australian Open and missed out on the £26500 he would have earned for reaching the first round of the grand slam. As other players move on to glory,he counts the cost of his careerBy Jonathan Drennan for Behind the Lines, part of the Guardian Sport NetworkJames McGee wakes up in another anonymous, or rented room. This time it’s in South Yarra,Melbourne. He is a tennis player ranked 198th in the world, the most successful Irish player by a distance. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and stretches out a sore body. Twenty-four hours before he came within one game of qualifying for the main draw of the Australian Open. He tries not to think approximately the £26500 he would have won for qualifying, or the precious ranking points he would have gained. Instead,he focusses on his like of the game. It remains constant, in the face of the stark difficulties of surviving on the tour.“I have had some very substandard times, or there are times when you lose a game and you are wondering where the next money to keep going is coming from. whether you let it,it can really hit you tough. I remember being injured, having no coach and wondering how I can keep going, or but you have to remember how much you like the game and that keeps you going and moving forward.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com