Editor’s note: 10sBalls staffers had the pleasure of meeting Jared Donaldson in 2017 at The Queen’s Club. He was being coached by our old friend and client Jan- Michael Gambill. We enjoyed catching a visit in lunchroom. Or tea and or strawberries. A few weeks later We saw him play a great match at Wimbledon. He was always a special guy. Well mannered. Charming. He stood out. In a room of 500 you couldn’t miss him. He carried himself with an air of elegance. (true of Jan -Mike too. Couldn’t miss him in a room of 1,000) . We wish him well. Best wishes to A really terrific guy. •Thanks again Noah Rubin’s for allowing us to repost your great contributions. ( LJ )

Jared Donaldson

September 12, 2024

“I was in constant pain for two and a half, three years. I was so desperate for any other alternative that could have been rewarding, that it was almost a relief to be given the option of retiring and going to school.

I think the interesting thing a lot of people say is, “Wow, it must’ve been challenging.” I think the answer to that question is, “Yes and no.” It was not challenging in the sense that I’ve always felt that I’d never had a choice, right? It wasn’t like I had to stop my career because of lack of skill or desire. It was just that I couldn’t physically do it.

What really struck me was when I went to college originally and I had to ask for help. I was used to always being very good. When I had to ask for help, it was a weird feeling. That was, I think, the most challenging part of the transition, but I never really felt that it was sad in the sense that I didn’t have a choice. Life doesn’t always work out the way you want it to, and you have to adapt.

One thing I try to tell kids is that tennis is great and obviously provided me with a lot of opportunity that I’m forever grateful for, but athletics end. Tennis ends. It’s very important to be well-rounded and open to other opportunities rather than being insular and saying, “I only do this one thing, and I’m only going to do this one thing forever.”

To be candid, it’s been a relief to step away from tennis. I remember, right before I was going to have my second surgery. I was on the phone with somebody, and he basically said if the surgery didn’t work I needed to stop and go to school. That conversation was a relief because I had already started thinking about rehab and the misery of it all. I ended up having to take a standardized test as a 24-year-old, not as a 17, or 18-year-old. My first practice ACT, I maybe got a 16. I was like, “Oh my God.” For a second I was unsure about the whole college thing, but when I actually took it I got in the 30s.

Now it feels really difficult to imagine what my life was before. The one thing I would say is I think there should be a lot more positivity around what a sacrifice is. I think there needs to be more of an understanding or even a praise for the players who take a huge risk and miss out on a lot of life events that are really transformative and “normal” in pursuit of playing tennis.

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It’s definitely not my first choice to be 27 and entering my senior year of college. However, I’ll always be eternally grateful to the University of Pennsylvania. I love the academics. I feel like it set me up in a really enviable position, post-tennis, career-wise to give me the tools to pursue what I want to do. I’m very lucky for the opportunity, and I always say the same effort, dedication, commitment, focus and intensity I once put into tennis is the same I’ll put into my next career and my studies

With tennis, I just wanted to get a little bit better each day. I think in life, professionally, I just want to learn a little bit more. I didn’t love tennis. I don’t play that frequently. I’m honestly pretty happy. I loved the competition and the pursuit of something that’s really hard. That’s what I miss. That’s what I got out of tennis and that’s what I really love.”