Sophomore Todd Edison of Ocean Township is still waiting for his tennis breakthrough; many of his peers say it has already happened. While tennis was initially an average hobby for Edison, as he grew older, his skills far surpassed average.
A tennis player’s universal tennis ranking (UTR) aims to numerically value their skill. For reference, the average UTR of a high school tennis player is between five and six; Edison’s is a 9.3 at only 16 years old. Having achieved many milestones, Edison often downplays his accomplishments.
“I’m still waiting for that crazy breakthrough,” Edison said. “I got second place at the Monmouth County Tournament. If I had taken that, it probably would have been my greatest moment, but I still feel like I’m waiting for that big result.”
Edison started playing tennis when he was just 3 years old, when his father signed him up at the Little Silver Racquet Club. Edison’s father played at Rutgers University and was very influential in his tennis career.
“My dad is definitely the person I look up to the most. He made it clear from the beginning that he wanted me to play tennis,” Edison said. “I didn’t want to let him down, so I kept up with it, and I’m glad I did.”
For Edison, he found that tennis is not just a sport; he takes the ideals that he has learned from the game into his everyday life.
“It helps me focus more on one thing at a time. When I was little, my mind would go to a million places at all times,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot of ways to cope with that while playing tennis. Whether I’m studying for a test or just stressed out about anything related to school, I use the same strategies.”
Though he acknowledges his skill, looking towards the future, Edison recognizes that being a professional player is not an option for him.
“Nowadays, these kids that are doing it have been homeschooled and online schooled since they were five years old, playing and training a lot more than I have,” Edison said. “The only way that you could take being a pro tennis player as your income is if you’re in the top 100 in the world, which is simply not possible in my situation.”
Edison has had to learn the mental aspects of the sport, in addition to the physically taxing parts of the game. He feels that tennis has given him so much, on and off the court. Edison’s favorite part of the sport stems from its most difficult factors.
“The part of it [tennis] that I like the most is the fact that you don’t have to rely on anyone else besides yourself,” Edison said. “It’s not a team sport, so if you lose, it’s on you; if you win, it’s on you, so no one else gets the credit, no one else gets the blame. It’s just on you.”
