Exploring dual career in tennis players: Gender and competitive level differences

Abstract

The aims of this study were: i) to describe the dual career in tennis players from the Madrid Region; ii) to analyze if there are differences regarding gender, and iii) competition level. An ad-hoc questionnaire was developed taking as reference the perception questionnaire of high-level university students-athletes about the dual career, ESTPORT (Sánchez-Pato et al., 2016). The sample was comprised by 60 tennis players (21.5 ± 2.8 years) residents in the Madrid Region. Fifty-five percent were men while forty-five percent were women. They trained an average of 3.9 ± 1.3 days and 17.2 ± 6.2 hours per week. Results confirm that each school year takes them about two years for passing it, a lack of planning a future out of the sport career and a high identification as athletes. Regarding gender comparison, women has less expectations on their sport career. This perception could be due the lower prize money in the women’s circuit. Women planned to work in relation to the studies the aim to finish. Regarding the competitive level, international level tennis players have a high commitment with the sport career. The main difficulties are not financial; they are the lack of flexibility at timetables to develop both careers. Practical insights for practitioners that work with tennis players are proposed.