Photo credit: Rob Stone/@RobStoneTennis
Editor’s note: 10sBalls thanks Noah Rubin for sharing his “Behind The Racquet with Tommy Haas” interview. To read the complete Tommy Haas story, please visit Behind The Racquet
Behind the Racquet
Tommy Haas
“I wrote a note to my parents when I was seven years old trying to negotiate that I didn’t need to go to school. I just needed to go on a tennis court, because I wanted to become a tennis professional.
For whatever reason, my dad threw me into judo at a young age, but I never really liked it. My dad was a tennis coach, but didn’t actually really like tennis growing up himself. He somehow just got thrown out there and tried to make a living. Every time I went to the tennis club, though, my parents had to fight to get me off the court.
I always knew what I wanted to become. There was never a question of going to college if I didn’t perform well in the juniors. College didn’t really exist in my mind. I knew as soon as I finished high school, I was going to go play on the tour and go after my dreams. Top 10 was always a big dream. Of course, winning a Grand Slam would have been the ultimate dream – that’s what you play for. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.
Struggles are inherently a part of the sport. As tennis players, the negativity is automatically there. You’re having conversations with yourself all the time, but you always have to turn it around, just stay positive and realize how lucky you are to play the sport and make a living with it as well. Yes, sure, there are times I look back and I’m like, ‘I can’t believe I didn’t win a Grand Slam.” I always felt I had the game, the fitness for it. And at my top, I felt like I was very, very hard to beat. But I’m not necessarily regarding it as a failure.
I didn’t really ever think about what I would do after my playing career. Of course, I always thought being around tennis would be somewhat interesting. After traveling my entire life, coaching wasn’t the most appealing option, but the love for the game was still inside me. Once the opportunity came around to being in Indian Wells, it was a no-brainer. The tournament is a player and fan favorite, and it lets me be around Los Angeles, where my two girls go to school. Right now, the way things are going with being tournament director and still playing and traveling a bit, I’m very happy with the situation.”