Side-hustles, self-doubt and $50k on travel costs alone: What life is REALLY like for a tennis player trying to qualify for the US Open

A shriek sounds retired astir tribunal No 4 astatine nan Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. A forehand volley down nan statement has drifted retired and, for Gabriela Knutson, different crippled has slipped by.

She trails by a group and a break and - now astatine 5-2 successful nan 2nd - nan world No 185 needs a miracle. Knutson is playing astatine nan US Open for nan very first clip but her expansive slam hopes already bent by a thread - astir a week earlier fans flood done nan gates of Flushing Meadows.

The 27-year-old is 1 of 128 women competing for 16 spots successful nan main tie - and a chance to gain a chunk of nan 'largest purse successful tennis history'. This year's singles champions will person $3.6million; a first-round conclusion will still gain players $100,000.

First, though, Knutson must travel done 3 rounds of qualifying. Even to scope information one, she has had to flooded self-doubt and excavation heavy into her ain pockets. The California born, Czechia raised up-and-comer has made $122,758 truthful acold this year. Nearly half of that has vanished already successful taxes and successful pursuit of this self-funded dream.

Her way to Flushing Meadows progressive a stop-off successful North Carolina for a pre-US Open tournament. That meant buying a formation from Prague to Cary and past a formation to New York. That meant paying for hotels successful some North Carolina and nan Big Apple. Plus food, positive baggage fees - for herself, and her younger brother/travel coach Dominik. That added up to astir $5,000 alone.

All to scope 1 of nan biggest stages successful tennis. This is nan reality of life successful nan shadows of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Knutson has spent nan past 2 seasons connected nan ITF tour, which is costly capable that she has taken a occupation moving successful societal media for a tennis institution successful Texas.

Knutson is exploring nan anticipation of doing a six-tournament plaything successful nan United States betwixt mid-September and mid-November. The only issue? Paying for hotels and flights and rental cars and nutrient and curen and shoes and racket stringing will costs astir $25,600.

Should she determine to prosecute a full-time coach, nan costs of that plaything would spiral towards $50,000. That wouldn't beryllium rather arsenic daunting if Knutson knew that finance would salary off.

Unfortunately, location are nary guarantees. On nan ITF tour, prize money ranges from a fewer 100 dollars - for losing successful nan early rounds - to respective thousands if she makes a final.

Knutson has tried to shed ray connected nan reality of life connected circuit done societal media. But she still feels there's an presumption that master tennis players are automatically rolling successful cash.

'It's an absolute farce that we're astatine a expansive slam level, and I still cannot spend to person a coach and spend a spot to live. I tin person 1 now, but I cannot person both,' she explains to DailyMail.com. When backmost location successful Prague, Knutson lives pinch her uncle.

'I wouldn't beryllium complaining if it was known. That's why I wanted to conscionable raise consciousness pinch nan Instagrams, especially, and nan TikToks. I didn't want to kick whatsoever. We're each happy to beryllium here.

'It's conscionable group deliberation that we unrecorded unthinkable lives and make truthful overmuch money. And that's why I conscionable wanted nan communicative to be: "No, we really are struggling financially."'

It's not conscionable astir nan money, though. There's besides nan changeless loneliness of life connected nan road. Knutson would emotion nan ITF to person much tournaments successful Europe. Not conscionable to support her costs down. But truthful she tin person much clip to spot family and friends and build relationships.

'I tin ne'er spell sojourn anyone because I person nary conception of my schedule, ever. I don't cognize what I'm doing adjacent week. It's conscionable crazy,' she says.

'You cannot scheme pinch a boyfriend, you cannot scheme pinch a friend, you cannot scheme anything. It's really chaotic for group that are adjacent to maine to really understand that, because they're like, "What do you mean you person nary free weekends?" I'm like, "No, I person free weekends. I conscionable ne'er cognize erstwhile they're going to be."

'Any narration is impossible, moreover pinch different group connected tour, because they're besides going connected circuit a lot. So you can't really person that either. It's only nan action if you find a bully guidelines and you person a narration and friends there... because you do walk a astir 75 percent connected nan road, and past nan rest, you're training. And past you person astir 2 weeks, possibly four, scattered passim nan twelvemonth that you person off.'

It doesn't thief that Knutson took an unconventional way to getting to nan pro tour. She first picked up a racket aged 2 and moved to nan Czechia astatine 12 wherever her training became much intense.

It wasn't until she reached assemblage that she felt capable to genuinely prioritize thing different than tennis. Rather than spell to 1 of nan much elite tennis schools successful nan United States, she forged a way for herself astatine Syracuse University, wherever she was classed arsenic precocious arsenic 4th successful nan federation her elder year.

'I went to Syracuse for nan academics, and that was 100 percent nan way that I was on. Just zero thought successful my mind that I would play pro after. Anytime I was asked, I was like, "I don't want to". I don't want to beryllium unsocial connected tour. I don't want to person nary money.

'Also, I didn't really deliberation I was bully enough, which was stupid. I deliberation astatine that constituent I knew I was (good enough), but I really didn't want to do it.'

After graduating pinch a grade successful journalism, Knutson headed to Durham University successful England. She studied for a masters successful trading and past different successful renewable energy. All while playing and past coaching tennis astatine nan schoolhouse during nan pandemic.

Knutson past pursued - and earned - a Fulbright scholarship, which would person seen her study successful Germany earlier publishing a book successful nan US connected upwind turbines.

Around nan aforesaid time, however, she was training astatine nan University of Nottingham and played successful 2 tournaments - reaching nan semifinals successful both. Suddenly nan impulse to play spot her again. So, aged 26, she went pro and turned down nan scholarship.

'I was emailing nan people, and they're like, "Why would you do this? Aren't you a spot aged to spell pro successful a sport?" But then, I emailed them each erstwhile I made nan Australian Open, I was like, "Look, I made it. It was worthy it."'

This year's US Open was nan 4th expansive slam qualifier of Knutson's profession - pinch each 4 coming this year. A heartbreaking third-set tiebreak conclusion successful Australia was followed up pinch a first information exit astatine Roland Garros and a second-round Wimbledon conclusion by eventual quarterfinalist Lulu Sun.

Then, astatine Flushing Meadows, Knutson was drawn against No 9 seed Eva Lys of Germany, a 22-year-old complete 70 spots higher than her successful nan WTA rankings.

A fewer twelve fans watched arsenic she mislaid nan first group 6-2 earlier battling backmost to nonstop nan 2nd group to a tiebreak. Unfortunately nan world No 185 was yet beaten 7-4.

'I was very nervous,' she admitted. 'But I'm proud of myself successful nan 2nd group really I really fought back... I'm very pleased pinch really I handled it, moreover nan loss, really I kept fighting, really my cognition was.'

Knutson's US Open escapade was complete by Tuesday greeting - 2 days earlier nan world's apical players learnt their destiny for information one. She will beryllium backmost adjacent year, hoping to spell astatine slightest 3 steps further connected her travel to nan top.

'I was not playing for 7 years. It's a agelong clip to not activity connected immoderate method to do fittingness successful a tennis way. I've made a batch of strides successful my crippled successful nan past 2 years. I had to study galore things conscionable to get wherever I americium now, and particularly astatine an property that I wasn't precisely young,' she says.

'I sometimes hide that erstwhile I'm astatine these tournaments and I'm astir each these group that are truthful good, and past you commencement comparing yourself to them erstwhile cipher has done what I did.'