Service!

Welcome to the wide world of college tennis, where getting a scholarship is insanely difficult and going pro is dang near impossible. Sorry, was that a bit harsh? We don't mean to break your serve just yet…there are certainly some opportunities to play tennis in college.

We simply want to iterate, then reiterate, and then re-reiterate, that making a college tennis team and staying on said college tennis team is no easy feat. You'll have to work harder than you've ever worked before, both on the court and in the classroom. Tennis will be your life. But if you're here reading this, it probably already is.

As you might already know, most of the top professional tennis players out there today didn't actually go to college. Federer? Sharapova? Djokovic? Nope, nope, nope. None of 'em are college grads. But are you as good as they are? No. You're not. Probably.

It's true that, unlike virtually every other major sport, college tennis is not the most direct route to the pros. Many international men are now turning pro at around nineteen or twenty years old, while some women are making the jump as young as sixteen or seventeen (source).

Rafael Nadal had already won his first French Open by the age of eighteen, while former world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, turned pro at fifteen. It's definitely time for us to reassess what we were doing with our lives as teenagers.

Meanwhile, there are fourteen American women in the WTA top one hundred (source). Two of them have the last name "Williams," but only one, Nicole Gibbs, played tennis in college. There are five American men ranked in the top one hundred and only three of them played collegiately. None, however, are even in the top twenty (source).

There's a word that perfectly describes these odds: bleak.

Still, take this info with a grain of salt. These trends do not mean that you should skip college because, let's be real, professional tennis is most likely not in the cards for you either. These people have been playing tennis ever since they could hold a racket. Superhumans don't have time for silly things like college degrees.

We don't have to tell you this, but there are many advantages to going to college. For starters, there's that whole degree thing. We hear that usually looks good on a resume. At the end of the day, your chances of getting a job after college are quite a bit higher than making the jump to professional tennis.

There are actually tennis scholarships to be had, but don't go and get too excited, now—it's no cinch landing one of these bad boys. Full scholarships are harder to find than a unicorn with two horns. Even partial scholarships are tough to come by, and they often only account for a fraction of your total tuition.

While the average college tennis team size is around ten to eleven athletes, men's D-I and D-II programs only offer the equivalent of 4.5 full scholarships to their players. Women's programs are a little more generous: D-I programs are permitted 8 scholarships, while that number is 6 at the D-II level. Either way, it's pretty clear that those odds aren't great (source).

Then, of course, there's all the top-notch competition you'll go up against. This includes all the international students who are coming to the U.S. to take advantage of the strong athletic, as well as academic, programs that the colleges here have. At the Division-I level, over 30% of all tennis players are international (source).

In case you're new to math, that's a significant percentage.

So how do you defy the odds to land a scholarship and make the team? Well, it starts with your performance as a junior. And if you're not familiar with the USTA, you need to be. Right now. The USTA is the ATP or WTA of junior tennis, organizing tournaments, and yes, establishing rankings. Without significant USTA tournament experience and a competitive ranking, most NCAA programs will glaze over your application.

If you're hoping to play D-I tennis, you shouldn't expect to make the cut if your USTA ranking is any lower than 250. Top-notch programs won't even blink if you're outside the top one hundred. If you're in the top 450, you could potentially find a home on a D-II team. Inside 600, you've got a shot at playing D-III, NAIA, or junior college tennis. If your ranking is higher than that, don't lose hope—you just better have all-state honors on your resume (source).

Next, you'll have to investigate programs that interest you. This means getting in touch with coaches, visiting the campus, and making yourself known. And then, yeah, there's the minor detail of actually getting into college. There are different ways to go about doing this, but we recommend excellent grades, awesome test scores, a well-written personal statement, and a dazzling personality.

The life of a college athlete is intense. To put it mildly. It'll be one heck of a time commitment. In addition to the three to four solid hours of workouts you'll be expected to attend on a daily basis, you'll also have your schoolwork to manage. It's important to develop good relationships with your professors and your coaches, as well as superb time management skills to handle the hat-juggling craziness of your student-athlete life.

Oh yeah, and aside from the physical demands of the sport (have fun chasing tennis balls around for four hours like a crazed Golden Retriever), tennis is about as mentally tough as it gets. You'll have to stay focused, both on and off the court. We hear a good grunt helps.

And of course, none of this means a thing if you ain't got that swing—tennis swing, that is.

Just remember these three things:

1. College tennis can be a tremendous opportunity and a scholarship is worth shooting for.
     
2. Study up and practice hard—you're going to need all the help you can get.
     
3. Keep your eye on the ball.

We'd love to be of "service" to you and give you some "advantage" so you can take on the tennis world. So read on, and we'll stop with the tennis puns before we hurt ourselves.