Hiding Inside the Baseline: Part 2

That’s me on the left with my brother right after our first tennis lesson.

As I became a successful Florida junior player, but still a few years before my national finals match with Aaron Krickstein, I noticed that a different kind of attention was starting to come my way that had nothing to do with tennis. Or maybe I should say I just started noticing a different kind of attention coming my way. My sexuality and all its confusion was beginning to kick in full steam.

I was 14 with a dark Florida tan, full flowing hair, a toned tennis body, a warm infectious smile, and a positive personality. People were attracted to me. All kinds of people.

The girls my age started to chase me around a good bit. The boys my age wanted to be my friend and hang out all the time. From the outside, as adolescent socialization goes, all indications were I was developing quite normally. But in my heart, I knew early on something was amiss.

Direct interactions with others were reserved strictly for my age group. As young boys will be young boys, a female could not walk by without my whole new gang…