Financing the Tour

Posted on June 24, 2013 by James Mc Gee

Hello again everyone,

I’d like to use my blog to answer some of the questions I receive frequently from younger players, parents and general tennis fans. I tend to hear a lot of questions to do with training/travelling/funding/motivation and in this particular blog post,  I will focus on finance and related matters. It will be about the expenses, the prize money and the different ways I’ve managed on tour over the past few years.

Let me first start by going back to 2009..

Cash

2009-2011:

For many years, my biggest concern about playing on the tour wasn’t so much about my will or ability, it was more about having the money to actually do it! I was extremely fortunate to have some private sponsors help me out for a short time when I first started on the Futures Tour (July ’08) but the money didn’t last long due to the economic downturn. I ended up being in a position in early 2009 where I had no sponsorship and very little personal money. Major challenge..

challengewall-1920-1200

I was ranked in the 400’s in 2009 after a good start on the tour from July-Dec ’08. It was a time where I needed funding to really push on and not get stuck but unfortunately, I did get stuck. My lack of funding lead to major changes in my schedule, my game, my mentality, my ranking and consequently my results. It was a difficult time and it lasted well over 2 years until mid 2011. Not surprisingly, my results were not outstanding during that period and I really felt I was struggling due to minimal funds. Continue reading →

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Posted in Challenger Tour, Club Tennis, Coaching, Davis Cup, Development, Finance, Futures, Information, Irish Tennis, Junior Tennis, Sponsorship, Tour Life, Tournament, Training | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 44 Comments

Post Wimbledon Update

Posted on June 20, 2013 by James Mc Gee

Hello Everyone!

I know it has been months since my last update but I figured I might as well stop procrastinating and get back writing.

I am back home in Dublin now after returning back from Wimbledon Qualifying earlier in the week. The past few weeks have been a fantastic learning experience for me in many ways but I’m happy to be home to have some time to reflect. I have learned through the years that time off to rest and reflect is just as important as the training and the competition. It just gives you some breathing space and a chance to see everything from a different angle.

I was delighted to make the cut for Wimbledon qualifying this year but it wouldn’t have happened had I not had some great performances in China and Korea back in early May. Going into Busan $75,000 Challenger in Korea a few weeks ago, I was aware in the back of my head that I needed a good result to make the cut for Wimbledon but I took the approach going into the tournament of “whatever will be, will be.” Even though it meant a lot to me to make the cut, there was no point in putting too much pressure on myself so I just went out, did my best and the result took care of itself. Fortunately, I was ranked #241 in the world when the new rankings came out and the Wimbledon qualifying cut ended up being #242! Lucky me..

Me and my old coach Larry at Wimbledon

Me and my old coach Larry at Wimbledon

Unfortunately, my time at Wimbledon qualifying didn’t last  long after I lost 1st round to Paul Capdeville 6-3 6-4. It wasn’t my best performance by all means and it was a tough one to take but there’s no point getting down about it. Tennis has taught me some great lessons and more often than not, I have learned a lot more from my defeats compared to my victories. For me, that’s what makes the sport so special. Tennis is a metaphor for life and I believe there are many ways of applying the lessons you learn on the court to your own life off the court.

I want to thank everyone who continues to support me throughout the year, you know who you are so thank you very much.

Lastly, here is a link to an excellent Irish Times article written by Jonathan Drennan about me before I went out to play Wimbledon qualies.

http://tinyurl.com/netj272

Best Wishes Everyone,

James

Posted in Challenger Tour, Grand Slam, Irish Tennis, Tour Life, Tournament, Update, Wimbledon | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Last Few Months On Tour

Posted on February 10, 2013 by James Mc Gee

2013 has started off on a positive note. I reached the final of my first tournament of the year in Israel 3 weeks ago and followed that up with a couple of solid performances in Davis Cup the following week. We ended up beating Estonia 3-2 in a very tough and tightly contested Tie. Sam Barry and I both won a singles match each as well as a vital doubles match on the Saturday. We had to claw our way back from a 5-2 deficit in the fifth set of the doubles and save 2 match points along the way but we eventually got the job done and won 9-7 in the fifth set!

Here are some pictures from the Tie (Courtesy of Kevin O’ Brien)

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Continue reading →

Posted in Challenger Tour, Davis Cup, Irish Tennis, Match Report, Tour Life, Tournament, Update | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Davis Cup Vs. Estonia

Posted on January 28, 2013 by James Mc Gee

Hi Everyone!

I’m back home in Ireland now after spending one month away training and competing. I spent my first 3 weeks of January training at my base in Barcelona and the last week playing a $10,000 Futures event in Eilat, Israel. I had a solid week and won 4 matches to get to the final but didn’t take the title. Good start to the year nevertheless.

Next up for me is Davis Cup vs. Estonia which starts next Friday, February 1st. There will be two singles matches played on Friday, first match starting at 4 p.m. followed by the second singles. On Saturday, the doubles match starts at 4 p.m. and on Sunday, the reverse singles matches will begin at 1 p.m. The Tie will be held at:

David Lloyd Riverview, Beech Hill, Clonskeagh, Dublin 4.

Phone: 01 218 9600.

For Tickets, go to http://www.tennisireland.ie

It should be a great Tie and it would be great to have as much home support as possible! Come on down to watch some great tennis!

See you there!

Posted in Davis Cup, Information, Irish Tennis, Update | 1 Comment

Thank You

Posted on January 6, 2013 by James Mc Gee

Hello again!

I will keep this short and sweet..

I just want to express my gratitude to everyone who has been supporting me over the past year. I appreciate all the texts, tweets, comments and messages of support I receive from all of you. Thanks a lot for your support and positive energy! 🙂

I wish you all a happy, healthy and successful 2013!

James

Posted in Irish Tennis, Update | 2 Comments

October Update

Posted on October 9, 2012 by James Mc Gee

It has been fairly ”full on” for the past 2 months so I thought I would take this opportunity to fill you in on my progress.

I’ve played seven tournaments in the past 8 weeks (Bolzano Italy €15,000+H*, Este Padova €15,000+H, Como Italy  €30,000+H, Alphen Holland €42,500, Istanbul Turkey $75,000, Izmir €64,000, Nevers, France €15,000+H)

*The ”H” stands for hospitality

I got off to a tough start at the beginning of the trip and didn’t pick up any points until my fourth week on the road. I didn’t feel like I was playing poorly but I was given some tough draws and ran into some players who were on a great run at the time. I felt I had chances to win most of the matches I had lost in the first few weeks so I was feeling optimistic about my game but frustrated not to get some more wins under my belt.

I managed to earn some points at a Challenger in Holland by winning 3 matches to qualify in and from there, I started playing better and better. I qualified into Istanbul $75,000 Challenger the following week before losing a tight 3 set match to the veteran Michael Russell. I knew I was playing at a high level so I took that form into the next Challenger in Izmir, winning 5 matches in a row before losing to the eventual runner-up Ilya Marchenko in another close quarter-final match.

That had been 6 long weeks on the road in a row so I took a few days off to recover before playing the €15,000+H in France last week. I had a decent week by beating 3 tough players before being knocked out in the semi-finals.

I’m catching up on some rest now and I’ll head back out soon!

Thanks for the support,

James

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Our Junior Days

Posted on September 26, 2012 by James Mc Gee

A combined blog post with James Cluskey..

James Cluskey and I travelled to Izmir, Turkey last week to compete in a €64,000 Challenger event. We both had some good wins throughout the week and left Izmir with a lot more ATP points than when we arrived. Throughout the week, we spent our evenings chatting about our junior tennis days and about the sacrifices we had to make to get to where we are now. We talked about our training growing up, the environment we were in, the competition in our age group, our coaching and how it has all changed over the years.  We both felt we had an excellent training structure throughout our teens that was always fun, challenging and highly productive. James agreed to join me on this blog post to share with you some of those things that helped both of us play to a high level in juniors, U.S. College tennis and now in ATP Pro tennis.

Photo Courtesy of Kevin O’Brien

I hope this information will be beneficial to anyone in Irish tennis and I hope those of you who are interested in improving tennis in Ireland (players/coaches/parents) can take something away from this. Please share this blog post, retweet it or email it to people who you think would be interested! Also, please share a comment and let me know what you think. Thank you Continue reading →

Posted in Coaching, Development, Irish Tennis, Junior Tennis, Training | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Penza, Russia: 5 Days I’ll Never Get Back

Posted on August 8, 2012 by James Mc Gee

I hadn’t heard too many bad things about Penza from guys who played the event last year aside from the fact that it was difficult to get to so I decided to go ahead and enter the tournament. Little did I know, the tournament venue and official hotel had been changed from last year which meant we would be playing in some remote forest in Russia with not too much around. Just one main road (no public transport), an astro-turf football pitch and a lots of tall evergreen trees. Depending on traffic, it could take anywhere between 30 and 60 mins to get to Penza City so we were a fair distance out from any real action.

It was a $50,000 Challenger tournament which meant a lot of ATP points were up for grabs, good money and you would expect, good hospitality. Nyet! (Russian for ”No”)

Continue reading →

Posted in Challenger Tour, Tour Life, Tournament | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Quick Update

Posted on August 4, 2012 by James Mc Gee

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to give a quick update to those interested in my progress.

I was sidelined with an external oblique injury for 5 weeks in May/June and got back out on the road roughly 7 weeks ago. Since coming back, I’ve played 6 tournaments and had very little rest in the week I had ”off”. Right now, I’m taking a proper week off and I am loving it. 🙂 Nothing beats waking up in your own warm bed, opening the window and inhaling in the fresh Irish air. I tend to miss the simple things like this when out on the road.

Enjoying my time off at the Cliffs of Moher

Continue reading →

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Irish Open Just Around The Corner

Posted on July 20, 2012 by James Mc Gee

Just a short message to let everyone know that The Irish Open begins next Monday, July 23rd and is being held at:

Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club
Appian Way
Dublin 6
 
Phone: 01 2815600
 

It’s the only professional tennis tournament we have in Ireland so make the most of it and come down to watch some top players battle it out!

 
 
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