You desire to be the best tennis player and you are not sure how long it can take? Worry not, see how long it took these international best tennis player to become pro with practice just like you.
When you begin training for tennis, you are often interested to know the approximate time you can take for you to master tennis skills and tennis rules as a player. Understanding the expected time for training helps you plan ahead in terms of time for training and perhaps financial commitment.
On average it takes 5-10 years of consistent training to become good at tennis champion. Professional tennis players spend years perfecting their tennis skills.
Generally, tennis champion pro who win in major tournaments such as the Grand Slams, ATP, or WTA, among others spend years training. The higher the frequency and determination of practice, the higher the chances of becoming a pro at something, ZenHabits.net.
Furthermore, majority of the tennis champions start practicing as at early age. It is easier to master a concept at a much younger age compared to older adults. Nevertheless, that is not to say that it is too late for adults to play tennis.
Practical Example Of Duration To Become Tennis Pro
The pro tennis players we will analyse the age they started playing tennis to the age they became good at and the time they became professional tennis players are Grand Slam Winners. In tennis, the world most recognized tennis tournaments is the Grand Slam tournaments.
Grand Slam tournaments are international tennis tournament that are categorized into four main groups namely
- Australian Open (tennis tournament is played in Australia)
- Wimbledon (tennis tournament is played in England)
- French Open (tennis tournament is played in France)
- US Open (tennis tournament is played in USA)
Now you have a great overview of what Grand Slam means. The Grands Slam winners are the top ranked tennis champions in the world. Smaller tournaments are often played before one can qualify to reach the Grand Slam Tennis Levels
Ages That Top 5 Grand Slam Winners Became Good At Tennis
1. Maria Sharapova Became Good At Tennis
Sharapova is a female Russian tennis champions. As documented in EnWikipedia.Org, Sharapova began tennis training at age six when her family migrated to the United States.
In Sharapova’s biography, she stated that her father always rewarded her with chocolate or lollipop as soon as they finished practicing a tennis game. That is what greatly motivated her to keep on playing to master tennis.
At the age of 14 years 9 months, Sharapova reached the Australian Open junior championships (En.Wikipedia.Org).
As Sharapova continued practicing, she became world number 1 in tennis at age 18 years old. She was the worlds number 1 women to win Grand Slam winners to win all six consecutive Grand Slams titles. Sharapova announced her retirement at age of 32 years old. Detailed story about Sharapova winning is documented in Britannica.com.
2. Rafael Nadal Became Good At Tennis
In Nadal’s biography documented in Biography.com, Nadal began practicing tennis as early as age three. Mostly, Nadal practiced his tennis game in the clay courts.
Nadal became good at tennis at tennis at age of 15 years when he was well known as the King of the clay courts due to his dominant wins in the clay courts.
Thereafter, Nadal featured in most international tennis championships where he recorded outstanding performance. Currently, Nadal is among the tennis champions with the most titles.
As of October 2020, Nadal had won 20 Grand Slam titles. More stories can be found in Nytimes.com.
3. Serena Williams Became Good At Tennis
In her biography Serena began playing tennis as early as age three. She often played tennis with her sister, Venus Williams. The more the two sisters practiced tennis, the better they became.
At age 14, Serena Williams became good at tennis. BBC.CO.UK documents that at the age of 14, the two sisters were too good in tennis that they attracted much of media attentions and that is when they began playing tennis as professionals.
As of October 2020, Serena Williams had won the most titles of 23 in the Grand Slams titles. She is the queen of tennis in the women’s singles. In fact, TheGuardian.com refers Serena Williams as the Queen of the court.
4. Roger Federer Became Good At Tennis
In his biography documented in Britannica.com, Federer began playing tennis at age of eight. He later became good at tennis at age of 11 and at age 14 he started playing tennis as a profession.
As of October 2020, Federer had won 20 Grand Slam titles. He won most of his titles in the grass courts. In fact, in the Latimes.com, Federer is referred to as the King of grass courts.
5. Novak Djokovic Became Good At Tennis
In his biography documented in Biograaphy.com. Djokovic started playing tennis at age four. At age six, Djokovic tennis talent was noticed and more training continued.
At age 14, Djokovic became good at tennis and began playing professional tennis as documented in En.Wikipedia.Org.
As of October 2020, Djokovic had won 17 Grand Slam titles. As analyzed by TheWeek.Co.UK, Djokovic has won most of his titles in the hard courts. Perhaps Djokovic can be viewed as the King of the hard courts.
Summary Of Pro Tennis Becoming Good At Tennis
It is evident that the duration one can be good at tennis greatly varied depending on an individual. However, it is worth noting that most of the international tennis players started playing tennis when they were below the age of 10 years old.
| Grand Slam Winners | Age First Played Tennis | Age To Become Professional Tennis Player | Period It Takes To Become A Tennis Pro |
| Maria Sharapova | 3 years | 14 years | 11 years |
| Rafael Nadal | 3 years | 15 years | 12 years |
| Serena Williams | 3 years | 14 years | 11 years |
| Roger Federer | 8 years | 14 years | 6 years |
| Novak Djokovic | 4 years | 14 years | 10 years |
Pro Tip To Become Good At Tennis
Generally, how fast you can get good at tennis can range from months to years. However, with consistence tennis training, you can become good at tennis within a short period. Besides, if you intend to become a tennis professional tennis player then you need to practice for more years.
Through understanding how long a game of tennis helps is you plan your schedule effectively so you can train adequately. Actually, if you are wondering is tennis hard to learn? The answer is no. Tennis is easy to learn with dedication and determination from a player.
On average, to master the concept of tennis how many hours of tennis a week you need is an average of 1 hour for a general player and about 4 hours of practice each day for a professional tennis player. Remember to be a pro you need to practice tennis for 5-10 years.
It is because there are so many things you need to practice and perfect before becoming a pro tennis player. For example, how long does it take to learn tennis serve can take about 1-2 years to learn and master to do a perfect tennis serve. The more you practice, the faster you will master the skill of serving.
Note that it does not matter the age you desire to start practicing tennis. Perhaps you are already above the age of 3-10 years where the world champions started playing tennis. Besides, you could be way above age 14 where pro tennis players start.
Learning to play tennis late in life is possible. You can still play tennis for fun or even as a profession whichever the age you are comfortable. According to Oldest.Org, the oldest tennis player who still play tennis turned 73 years old in 2020 is Gail Falkenberg from USA.
Conclusion
To become good at tennis, you need discipline to persistently keep on practicing tennis for years. It is because research has proved that to become good at any activity such as in tennis sport you need to dedicate at least 5 to 10 years of consistent practice. Most pro tennis players have spent years in the courts consistently doing training. Furthermore, playing tennis can be a hobby where you play for fun and not necessarily aim to becoming a pro.
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