By Erik Gudris | Friday, May 2, 2014

 

James McGee gained worldwide attention for his candid writing on trying to make it in pro tennis. Find out more on Ireland's No. 1 player competing this week in Tallahassee.

Photo Credit: Larry James/Tallahassee Tennis Challenger

Ireland is known for many things but tennis is probably not one of them. But that hasn't stopped James McGee from living out his dream of being a professional on the ATP Tour.

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This week, McGee is currently competing at the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger where he just reached the semifinals. Find out more about Ireland's No. 1 player.

1. Vital Statistics: McGee was born on June 10th, 1987 in Dublin, Ireland where he currently resides.

2. Early Start: On how he got interested in tennis, McGee said, "I was lucky enough to live near a tennis club about 10 minutes away from my house. Just going down there when I was seven or eight I was pretty much hooked from the start. Once I started playing I couldn't get enough of it. I used to play in torrential rain growing up on they're called savanna courts, they are like artificial grass courts so that you could play in the rain. I played outdoors in the rain pretty much every day. So that's how I got into tennis and then I was lucky enough to be able play indoors when I was 13 or 14 and then I got onto a proper hard court which was nice."

3. Pro Life: McGee turned pro in 2008. He holds five ITF Futures singles titles. Currently near his career best high ranking of No. 209, McGee has wins over Ryan Harrison and Blaz Kavcic. McGee also made it into qualifying for both the Australian Open and Roland Garros for the first time this year.

4. Clay Challenge: "Obviously in Ireland where I'm from we don't have any clay courts, so I didn't grow up on clay courts like the Spanish or the French. Adapting to the clay has been a challenge for me over the years. But I think it helps my forehand and I don't mind the ball too high there. I also like to play long points. I like to be quite physical on the court and I have a decent kick serve, so whether's it clay, hard or indoor hard I'm just happy to play on whatever."

5. Ireland's Best: McGee is Ireland's No. 1 player. Recently, he helped his country's Davis Cup team defeat Egypt to remain in Europe/Africa Zone Group II. He currently writes about life on the pro tour at his website aptly called, "Life as an Irish Professional Tennis Player".

McGee earned global attention for a post he wrote on his site last year about the financial realities of life as a lower ranked player. The post got over 60,000 views and was featured in many media outlets worldwide.

6. On His Site's Surprise Success: "I really wrote that piece so that my local tennis community where I'm from to let them know what I was up to since I had been away for so long. And they may go online and see where I'm at now and it looks like quite a glamorous life when you are going to some of these even tropical places like these islands or you are in Eastern Europe. But I was shocked by the amount of response. I think it's important to share that type of information because there's a lot of people out there that love tennis, a lot of juniors that want to make it. But they're not coming from wealthy backgrounds or places where their federations have a lot of money. You're not actually making money until you are top 100 or top 120 in the world and it's very difficult to get up there. You need the backing and you need the coaching. You are certainly not going to get up there alone."

7. Off-Court Fun: "I don't know if I can say that publicly." McGee said with a laugh. "I'm single so I chat to a lot of women. I read a lot and sometimes I write. When I'm home, I hang out with friends, all the normal stuff."

8. Last Book Read: "I read a book called "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. Before that I read Mike Tyson's autobiography. I also picked up Nick Bollettieri's book since I met him for the first time two weeks ago."

9. Goals For This Year: "I know it's really boring but I'm just going to try and do my best. I know it's a really boring answer. Obviously I want to be inside the top 100 so I can play Slams. I'm trying to do my best and improve my game and when your game improves your results improve naturally."

10. Social Savvy: Follow McGee on Twitter.

(Thanks to Tallahassee Tennis Challenger)