MaxPurcell

Falling in love with the game

My older sister played tennis and when my twin brother and I were three, we also had a weekly 30-minute class. That was all I needed to fall in love with the game. Since then, I always wanted to be a professional tennis player.

I love the feeling of winning and pushing myself to being the best I can be. But most of all, making my living doing something I love is a dream come true. The people around me help drive me to be the best person and player I can be and that’s what really pushes you in the hard moments. Like those early wake ups and tough fitness sessions. They’re mentally and physically the hardest things I’ve gone through. Thinking about the bigger picture and realising how important all the little 1% moments are, really makes you focus to get it over and done with.

It’s that balance between the mental and the physical sides of the game. It’s not all about how strong you are. It’s how tough you can be, every second you’re on the tennis court or in the gym. That comes from a lot of mental training and strength.

It’s great when it all comes together and you get that feeling that you can do anything with the ball. It doesn’t happen all the time, but there’s no better feeling. It makes every shot and point enjoyable. And when your opponent’s in the same zone, you get a really tough match you can get stuck into and you can really enjoy the battle.

My best so far

As a junior, I won a fair amount of national titles. But 2016 was my first big year. I made the quarter finals in the Junior Australian Open singles and the doubles semi finals. I was also the first player born in 1998 to win an ATP challenger title. And in 2017, I won three more ITF singles Futures and two doubles Challenger titles.

It’s great when it all comes together and you get that feeling that you can do anything with the ball. It doesn’t happen all the time, but there’s no better feeling.