Tennis in Europe: My Summer Experience

JULIEN DUJARRIC — Over the summer, I had the opportunity to travel around Europe to play tennis with the Tennis Europe program. The program consisted of 12 kids from many different states, whose ages ranged from 15 to 17 years old. To begin the trip, we all met up at JFK airport and said goodbye to our families for what would be an intense next three weeks. Our first destination was London, England, where we visited Wimbledon and watched many exciting matches throughout the day. Wimbledon’s grounds have a fantastic environment; I enjoyed the beautiful flowers and decorations, the delectable food, and, of course, the many incredible tennis matches to watch. The following day, the group flew to Nice, France, and subsequently drove to Menton, a small town on France’s coast. We stayed in France for ten days, occupied with each kid entering into two tournaments against local French players of their age. The tournaments were in Menton and the stunning Monte-Carlo Country Club, in Monaco. Playing two matches a day took a toll on my arm, but nonetheless, I finished my tour with an undefeated 8-0 record in France. Unfortunately, I had to withdraw from both tournaments because we had to leave for our next destination. Our next and final location was Breukelen, Netherlands, a small town about an hour drive outside of Amsterdam. Here, the group and I played in a tournament at a small family-run tennis club with local Dutch players. This time I was cut especially short, as I was forced to withdraw from the tournament after the first day because of a shoulder injury. I later found out that I had a partially torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder. Despite the injury, I was glad to visit Breukelen and meet its amazing people. I would highly recommend this program if you truly love the game of tennis and are eager to play in different parts of the world.