When the NCAA tennis season shut down in 2019 because of covid, it turned the world upside down for 18 Aztec men and women, confronting them with the task of traveling often extraordinary distances at a time of risk and rapid change.
On the last day of March, Aztec senior David Hough left San Diego and flew to Los Angeles, then overnight to Melbourne, Australia on the last Qantas flight before its international shutdown.
Hough had won Mountain West Player of the Week in January. He was met by his parents, who brought two cars to the airport. Their two-hour drive home to Traralong in separate vehicles symbolized the tumultuous nature of the new world order.
By driving alone, Hough was beginning a two-week quarantine that extended to a guest bedroom and separate meals for 14 days. Total travel distance: 8,300 miles.
Recently, Aztec Tennis Reporter invited Hough to tell us what he has experienced in the 58 months since.
David Hough writes:
I’m missing San Diego a lot.
The plan was after graduation, to have a go at playing professionally as I’d never fully committed to tennis before.
After 1.5 years in lockdown and no tournaments, only being allowed to train, it was extremely frustrating but finally left for my first events at the end of 2021.
I traveled and competed for roughly 18 months having some decent results and achieved an ATP ranking in both singles and doubles, which was nice.
Around April this year I decided I had had enough of those ITF events. The atmosphere at them is pretty awful so I just wasn’t enjoying it, and I had run out of funds. It’s extremely expensive especially for Aussies having to fly across the world for most events.
I decided I really wanted to catch up with my friends and teammates from SDSU so I spent a few months coaching and saving money, before going to Europe for 2 months.
It was amazing to see Jan Kirchhoff in Berlin, Rafael Gonzalez in Madrid, Arnaud Restifo in Nice, France, Joel Popov in Tampere and Aaro Pollanen in Helsinki, Finland again. Especially as it ended so suddenly at SDSU and we didn’t get a proper goodbye.
Since returning from the trip a few weeks ago I am exploring the next steps career wise, and hope to find something that allows me to travel occasionally so I can get back to San Diego or see old teammates in Europe whenever the opportunity comes up.
I much prefer to play for the enjoyment these days which a team environment gives me. So I am currently living in Melbourne and playing at the highest level of team tennis here, for my club Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club.
Kind regards,
David Hough Melbourne
