From hitting with Djokovic to quitting tennis: Aussie teen answers heavy question

(Tennis Victoria)

For all of the endless hours, early mornings, and persistent hard work, there will come a time when a young athlete questions whether they can make it to the big time.

It is a daunting question because there is pressure from parents who invest in their child's sporting future, whether financially or in time.

Aussie 19-year-old Jarrod Joyce found himself in that exact predicament.

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Joyce, who grew up in Ballarat, earned the chance to practice with Novak Djokovic at last year's Australian Open. The sky was the limit.

But then it suddenly hit him. The love he first found for the game began to diminish to the point where a tough decision had to be made.

"It was probably one of the hardest things I had to do," Joyce told The First Serve Live when discussing his decision to walk away from the sport. "To sort of open up, just talk about how I wasn't really enjoying the path I was going on with tennis.

"Tennis has been what I've wanted to do for the past six or seven years, where I've taken it really seriously.

"The environment overseas, and just the fun I was having on the court, probably the past six months haven't been what I've been loving, and that's been something really hard to open up about... I just didn't feel like it was something that I really wanted to pursue as my career."

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As we often focus on the world's best players, it's easy to forget those who are desperately trying to work their way up the tennis pyramid and earn a living.

One day, there was a certain tipping point for Joyce.

"I was supposed to go to college; I was recruited by the University of Memphis... and I was supposed to go over in August this year, and that fell through after various reasons," he explained.

"And then I sort of just had to say to myself: 'Well, what [are] the next few years going to look like for me?' because it's such a tough journey and process in professional tennis.

"Did I want to be spending however many years grinding it out on the ITF circuit? And I think for some people, those milestones of reaching top 1000 or just getting one ATP point and being part of that environment; they thrive on that, but for me, it was a different mindset that I had. I wanted to play tennis because I wanted to be the best."

Since that time, he has discovered a new passion for footy, where he is having "a lot more fun in a team environment", and has opened a new door with an opportunity to play for Collingwood's VFL team.

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