Ben Rosen - Bates Tennis

Ben Rosen and I have a candid conversation about how hard the transition to professional tennis was for him. Unfortunately, Ben's career was cut short. Not by injury, but rather a difficulty adjusting to the lifestyle of a professional tennis player. In many ways, I found Ben's story to mimic how I feel a lot of the time. We discuss how we allow the perception of others to factor into how we view ourselves, not feeling like we belong, respecting our opponents too much, and whether he wishes he stuck it out longer. Ben has a lot of interesting insights and I think this a really important listen.

Ben arrived at Bates just hoping to make the lineup, which he accomplished in his first season. After experiencing some success at #5 singles and #3 doubles, he came back his sophomore year and surprised everyone (including himself) by becoming the number 1 singles player for the Bobcats. Ben's breakout sophomore year was capped by a run to the NCAA singles quarterfinals, which led to his first singles All-American honor. The accolades didn't stop there since he was also named to the All-NESCAC First Team in singles and doubles.

Ben continued his success at number 1 singles and doubles his junior and senior seasons. He compiled a slew of awards including earning All-American honors in singles and doubles during those two seasons. During Ben's senior season, the DIII tennis world took note of his character and sportsmanship by honoring him as a Northeast regional winner of the ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award and he also earned the NESCAC's Clarence Chaffee Sportsmanship Award. As someone who was fortunate enough to compete against Ben, they are well deserved.

Ben set out on his professional tennis journey shortly after graduating. His tournament schedule took him to Iowa, Illinois, Italy, and Israel. Having watched videos of Ben on his blog, I could tell immediately that he improved tremendously from his training. Ben ended up earning his ATP ranking in doubles in Italy on the red clay, an accomplishment that should not go unnoticed.

Be sure to find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @D3toPro where (when sports come back) we'll be keeping you up to date on our DIII athletes' journeys!

------------

Intro and Outro music: "Loopster" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/