How blind tennis changed my life and opened a path I didn’t know existed

I am 24 years old and have a master’s degree in writing, editing and publishing from the University of Queensland. Competitive ballroom dancing is what I live for, and Harry Styles is my favorite singer.

Sounds pretty normal and boring, right? I agree. But here’s what you don’t expect – I’m deeply deaf and my vision is limited to lowering my fingers 20cm in front of me.

From a very young age, I sat in front of the TV for hours watching Novak Djokovic win the Grand Slam one after another in quick succession.

I adore him; I was his number one fan. Every time he won a point, I pumped his fists and shouted, often to the anger of other family members. I believed Novak was the king of tennis – he dominated that sport. And my dream was to meet him one day.

It is said that dreams come true, but only if you try to make them come true.

That’s exactly what I did – I booked myself a trip to Melbourne in January 2020 and promised that this will be the year I meet my hero.

The weather in Melbourne was poor – windy, wet and generally icy. I had a cold almost immediately, which dampened my excitement for the Australian Open final.

I felt pretty unwell, I thought how unfortunate it was that I had to get sick at such an important time – couldn’t my body have chosen another week of the year to save its function in an optimal way?

Still, happiness was with me. I continued to bully Novak’s Security Team and finally got a photo with him. Not even the fact that I felt like the train was driving over me at high speed could ruin that moment – I was positively, 100% excited.

Years of waiting and watching had paid off; it wasn’t just a wild goose chase.

On top of the cake was a signed cap, which Novak himself fetched from his bag and donated to me. What an amazing experience I will never forget.

The media was there and someone pushed the microphone under my mouth, making me express my feelings. But I was lost because of my words, and I was completely in the power of disguised happiness.

But can you blame me? I had just met one of the greatest legends in the sport, could hardly have expected to form consistent sentences.

Star-sinuck was a bit of an understatement – here was another layer than most people would have expected.

Due to my declining hours, I can only watch tennis on TV – live games are not an option. So at the Open, my goal was to meet players who were important to me; a more intimate and memorable bucket list item than I could have hoped for.

Of course, Novak was a priority, but I also grabbed a picture with Nick Kyrgios and Milos Raonic.

The previous year I had managed to take a selfie with Roger Federer in Perth, which had fueled a desire to aim higher in the book of famous people.

A Facebook post that changed my life

Fast forward to June 2021 and browse my Facebook feed at some random time when I come across a post from a blindfold advertiser of tennis. I stopped rolling and started wondering – could this really work for me?

I never, at any point in the last decade, thought I could play tennis. It just didn’t feel realistic to someone who didn’t see or hear. How on earth can I like such an idea? You stupid Ness, I rebuked myself.

But despite these doubts, my curiosity overcame me and I found myself standing on the tennis court one Tuesday night surrounded by other blind players.

On the drive to the tennis center, I had argued with myself about the ridiculousness of the whole thing – I was almost convinced it was a cruel joke the internet was playing for me, and there was no such thing.

I soon realized how wrong I had been in questioning my abilities so strongly.

My coach Ian Ketteringham and Dan Bentel received me warmly. Although it was extremely cold to be outside this first night, I ended up surprising myself by having fun. The balls we used were very soft, contained a watch, and were black and fluoro yellow.

With the exception of these adjustments and the fact that the ball was allowed to bounce more than once before hitting, the blind and visually impaired (blv) tennis resembled sighted tennis. The same rules still apply, only these small changes were made due to lack of vision. Of course, the clock was of no use to my ears, so I channeled my energy elsewhere.

Several weeks later, I asked Ian for private lessons because I had noticed that one hour a week did not satisfy my deep thirst for healing. Something had gotten loose inside me – I wanted to learn and then win.

It was a new area for both Ian and me, we had to get confused and figure things out on our journey.

I started genuinely waiting for my private lessons every week – Ian and Dan were very encouraging and open, which helped me feel comfortable and make mistakes because they were never critical.

Opening up an exciting future

Coaches seem to believe I have the potential to win games – if a professional tells me this, must that be true? I think we’ll see.

The new year has exciting things for me, I just have to be patient and everything will fall into place.

I put a reporter’s hat on my head and asked Dan and Ian for their thoughts on blind tennis and how they found me as its coach.

“There have been so many rewarding things on the program, but I think the most rewarding part would be that I bring that favorite species to a crowd for whom it was previously impossible,” Dan said.

“He (Ness) has really high expectations and sometimes he’s a little too harsh on himself because he’s only been playing for five months.”

I don’t think I’m ever too harsh on myself, so I found this speculation amusing. I’ve always been too ambitious about a mistake, but I think it’s a good feature because it means the bar is always set a little higher than I can reach, which motivates me to keep climbing.

I can imagine that for these coaches who have never been used to teaching only sighted players, it is certainly scary to face a whole new side of the sport.

I would like to use this platform to express my sincere thanks to Ian, Dan, and the rest of the team who have made such a huge positive impact on my life in a very short time.

And no doubt the lives of other blind players.

Sometimes thank you alone doesn’t seem enough, and that’s why I hope that by publicly acknowledging their determination to make tennis inclusive and achievable, these few special people will take a moment to be proud of what they do.

As for the future, I know that it is difficult to plan for the future of COVID-19 these days. nothing can really be stoned because of the sensitivity of a pandemic.

However, this does not stop me from dreaming of competing nationally and internationally in blind tennis.

The Paralympics are my main goal, but first I have to defend the para-sport of blind tennis, because that is not the case at the moment.

In the meantime, I’m content to practice six days a week and prepare my body and mind for what 2022 wants to throw. I am so grateful that I came across such a wonderful opportunity to explore myself, it has been an unparalleled journey, and I could not have predicted how powerful holding a bat would be.

Maybe somewhere below the track, Novak is brave enough to close his eyes and see how well he can restore my feed.

ABC is collaborating International Day of Persons with Disabilities to celebrate 4.4 million disabled Australians.