ITF

26 ITFWorld // WINTER 2019/20 NEARLY TWO DECADES HAVE PASSED BUT WHEN NADIA JOHNSTON IS ASKED TO RECOUNT HER INJURY-ENFORCED retirement from professional tennis the memories and anguish come flooding back. It was 2001 and Queensland-born Johnston, 23 years old at the time, was making her way in the sport she had loved since childhood and had just featured in qualifying for the Australian Open. Promise, however, soon turned to despair and by the summer Johnston had been forced to retire after suffering an irreparable wrist injury. It was a cruel and merciless way to see her dreams and hopes dashed. "When my tennis career ended due to injury it was a hard time in my life," Johnston told ITFWorld. "I was definitely in a depression and I isolated myself. "I was obsessed with tennis from a very young age and only ever saw myself as a professional tennis player. I loved every part of it and didn't want that lifestyle to end. "It was so hard watching my friends still playing and knowing that I would never compete again at that level. When you dedicate your entire life to something, it's difficult to see it taken away." But from the ashes, salvation stirred. In 2003, Johnston relocated from Australia to Long Island and began teaching tennis on a private basis with a view to becoming a coach on the professional circuit. Unbeknown at the time, a whole new world was about to present itself. Two years after moving to New York State, beach tennis began to flicker on Johnston's radar. "A friend and client who played both beach volleyball and tennis heard about a beach tennis tournament ITFWorld learns how beach tennis lied Nadia Johnston's spirits aer injury forced her to retire from the game she loved. By Ross McLean B E A C H T E N N I S 'I was in a depression and I isolated myself' Johnston was forced to retire from professional tennis through injury

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