Abid Ali Akbar, one of Pakistan’s top tennis players, learnt a lot from playing tennis which gave him a lot of assurance and belief to meet the goals that he had for later in life.

Starting this racket ball sport at a very young age, Akbar has been the no.1 Pakistani in the ATP rankings. He’s won 2 national titles in singles and 8 in doubles, and reached many singles finals. His last title came in the summer of 2019. He has been ranked as high as 40 in the US division 1 university tennis ranking, and played as high as no.1 in his university team where he was on scholarship for 5 years. He also coached the Pakistan junior Davis Cup team and the men’s Davis Cup team in Islamabad. Being one of the main members of the men’s Pakistan Davis Cup team, he’s won some very important ties for Pakistan.

After graduating from the University of Idaho, he obtained a tennis fanatic dream job as full time head coach of his own university. Making his team win conference championships 2 years in a row, he trained himself side by side and continued his passion of playing tennis professionally during the holidays with the money he made. Very tough and not ideal as tennis is an exorbitantly expensive sport. Had he focused on his tennis alone, he might have flourished to his full potential of a better professional ranking. Unfortunately, sponsorships even for the best national players in Pakistan are nearly impossible to obtain.

In 2018, he had an epiphany to leave his head coach tennis job and a long term relationship, all for his love of tennis. Moving back to Pakistan to train and play professionally, his focus was only on tennis with the money saved up over the years — a huge sacrifice taking full responsibility of the uncertain consequences. That same year he represented Pakistan in Asian Games in singles and doubles.

Unfortunately, that journey was cut short due to an injury compelling him to leave for his MBA in the US. Currently he is the assistant tennis coach for the University of Reno, Nevada, in the US, which pays for him to do his MBA at the university.

He firmly believes in the philosophy of Steve Jobs, who said: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

We may fail to comprehend why something is transpiring, only to realize later that it was always for the better in the long run.

During his first year at his undergraduate University, he realised his teammates were superior in fitness, strength, and many other facets, prompting him to work vigorously. It showed results as he escalated from no.7 in singles the first year to being no.1 in his third year.

Unknown to most Pakistanis, one of the substantial benefits of playing a sport competitively is acquiring a scholarship to obtain a 4 year degree from a US University. If the child does not make it professionally, the option of it paying for a highly pricey degree is available. Being a sportsman alongside pursuing an education, you learn sportsman spirit, multitasking, and innumerable invaluable skills simultaneously that you don’t learn in the classroom. In the future it produces excellent employers and remarkable leaders.

Pakistani youth is in their comfort zone. Moving abroad for school brings a culture shock. Students there pay their own school fees, work before and after school, pay their own bills, house rent, car and health insurance, make their own food, and clean their own dishes. When Pakistani kids live in countries such as the US, it’s a positive eye-opening experience.

Managing your own finances and budget for even the simplest commodities, such as groceries, turns one from a child into an adult. It also primes you for success later in life when you’re married, have children and in your home life enhances one’s confidence to thrive in the world. It’s necessary to stand on your own feet to sustain yourself in whichever circumstances you’re thrown into.

It’s not just the wins that assemble a triumphant athlete, but more importantly the losses, the lessons procured, and how they’re handled.

Outside school, Akbar’s focus was on tennis during adolescence, renouncing unhealthy habits teenagers get involved in such as drinking, smoking, and drugs. He had a great social life with friends but tennis never let his mind wander, giving him a healthy, active, and productive childhood. As an athlete one sacrifices social life to stay on track. He’s thankful to tennis for maintaining his discipline, and directing his view to a higher perspective of what’s beneficial for him, and what isn’t.

If he’s ever down in life, low in confidence, when things aren’t going his way, he can always look back at the time when he was one of the best in his country. Mainly the achievements of winning for his country, lifting hopes of so many people, and bringing the Davis Cup tie home give him a little pick-me-up as it’s something he can always take pride in.

We know how and why confidence plays a huge role in any sport, or even normal life. We want to raise our children to be as confident as possible, making them dream big, and having the belief and will power to achieve them. After going through pressure situations in his matches umpteen times, Akbar claims other work related tasks don’t really amount to much and seem elementary for him.

Tennis taught him the superpower of calmness, and controlling his reactions. When life catapults the worst at him he knows how to control it. When he faces failures and disappointments in life he knows how to subsist by making rational decisions instead of emotional ones.

When your opponent is beating you and you’re helpless, it hurts your ego but you learn to swallow your pride. Alongside, one must also learn how to handle victory and keep improving after being successful.

Tennis is so particularly individual that you preside over everything yourself. No one is helping you on the court during a match. You make your own team, surround yourself with the right people, and spend your finances smartly. A lot goes into being a professional athlete. It’s not just about being good at tennis. It’s the tournaments you participate in, the surface, the coach, the training partners, training destination, singles or doubles or both and much more, and that’s just scratching the surface. Doing all that at a young age is incredible.

Meheq Khokhar is a leading    national tennis player, news presenter, sports show host, tennis analyst and journalist. meheqk@gmail.com