A GOLDEN RULE PAYS OFF...NEVER, NEVER, NEVER QUIT
How Thai tennis player Napaporn Tongsalee turned years of setbacks into the biggest week of her career.
Story by ROBERT DAVIS
When Napaporn Tongsalee won match point in the women's professional Challenger tournament on Sunday in Kentucky, she did far more than just win a match over a much higher ranked opponent.
And it is true, she became only the second Thai woman tennis player to win a Challenger level tournament, after Tamarine Tanasugarn.
However, that was the furthest thought from her mind. Sitting courtside while waiting for the trophy presentation and a prize cheque worth US$7,400, she could not hold back the flood of tears.
Tears that until this moment have always been tears of the defeated. Not anymore.
During her amazing run to the final of the US$50,000 Bellefonte Tennis Classic, Napaporn (world ranking 302) beat three players who had been ranked inside the top 100. And in the final she defeated Kristi Brandi who has been as high as top 30 in the world.
But her biggest triumph of the week was not standing across the net. Her biggest opponent was herself. You see at 25 years old, Napaporn Tongsalee was at the end of the line, ready to quit the professional tennis tour and come back to Bangkok with a reputation as a talented, but mentally weak, underachiever.
I know Napaporn Tongsalee and her story well. For when I was national coach of the Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand, Napaporn was on my national teams. Quickly, she became one of my favourite players. Her physical talent was more than obvious, but what was even more obvious was her inability to maintain her concentration and contain her emotions. The rumour among the tennis circles was that she was mentally weak. I never believed that. For if she was mentally weak, she would have quit tennis long ago before last week's amazing triumph.
Coaching Napaporn Tongsalee became an emotional roller coaster. Often she would cruise through the first set of a match, displaying brilliant tennis with a fierce competitive determination that left us staring in wonder. But, I soon learned that with Napaporn, nothing was ever certain until the last point of the match was over. And more often than not, I had the unpleasant job of consoling a heartbroken and disappointed player who had given her best, but stumbled yet again at the finish line.
Napaporn is not unique in the world of individual sports. She is just one of many athletes that are tagged at an early age with the label of being talented. As if that was all that was needed for instant success. When Napaporn competed, one thing was certain, she was not only competing against her opponent, but she was waging a far greater battle against an army of inner-demons.
As the years went by and the losses piled up, Napaporn not only saw her professional and national ranking drop, but the exodus of several coaches and being relegated to doubles duty on the Fed Cup team. The excuses varied, but the main reason was, few if any thought Napaporn would ever lift her arms in victory on the professional tour. And until Sunday, neither did Napaporn.
Napaporn had another obstacle _ money. Unlike most players on the pro-circuit, she was not borne into wealth. In fact, if not for the help of a private sponsor, she could not afford to travel at all. Now that sponsor was having doubts about continued support.
Four years have passed since I last coached Napaporn. Still, we have remained in close contact over the years, and as recently as two weeks ago, I got this email from her:
Hi Coach,
I am in Korea. Lost first round. ----! I want to quit! I don't know how to explain my tennis. I feel so down, I am 25 years old and if I cannot win a match in the small tournaments, how am I ever going to win in the big tournaments? Why do I have to feel so sad every time I play?
I am alone now, nobody believes in me anymore. I don't know how much longer I can take this.
Bye, Robbee (Napaporn).
What was my advice to Napaporn then?
Very simple, it is not important whether others believe in her anymore.
All that is missing is for her to somehow, some way, believe in herself again.
And never quit.
Now that she has her first champions trophy on the professional tour, she will not have to doubt herself any longer. And neither will the rest of us.
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