'I'm good, I promise': the loneliness of the low-ranking tennis player

I was once Ireland's No 1 player, and tried for years to climb the global ranks. But life at the bottom of the top can be brutal I was 10 when I first told my folks that I wanted to give up playing tennis. They didn't yield then, and they never did. Tennis was our family business. I first picked up a racket at the age of three, and spent 15 years of my life travelling the world in pursuit of entry into major tournaments. I spent all of September 2005 - including my 24th birthday - alone in Switz...