Spanish professional tennis player Alicia Herrero knows firsthand the realities of chasing a career on the WTA Tour. From injuries and financial struggles to long weeks traveling alone across the world, Herrero has experienced both the rewarding and difficult sides of professional tennis.
In an interview with Florida Tennis Magazine, Herrero opened up about her journey from Spain to college tennis in the United States and eventually back to the professional tour.
“When I was around eight or nine years old, I started playing tennis because my friends and my cousins were playing,” Herrero said. “So, I started playing because people around me were just playing.”
After developing in Spain, she faced one of the biggest decisions of her career: whether to immediately pursue professional tennis or take the college route in the United States.
“After high school, I took the time to improve my English for a year and I started playing professionally, but I think I was so young,” she explained. “Maybe I wasn’t ready to become a pro so early.”
Eventually, Herrero and her family decided college tennis would be the best path forward.
“I think those four years helped me mature,” she said. “They helped me be more organized and more professional. It gave me the time to think about life and have things more clear.”
After college, injuries forced her to step away from competing professionally just as she was trying to establish herself on tour.
“My dream was always to be a professional player, but I knew being realistic, I couldn’t start playing at that point because I wasn’t ready,” Herrero said. “So I had to stop. I started coaching a little bit, I did a lot of rehab, and tried to give myself the best chance to maybe come back in the future.”
That comeback opportunity eventually arrived thanks to encouragement from her former college doubles partner.
“She was the one telling me, ‘Why don’t you just come back? We play doubles and see how it goes,’” Herrero recalled. “At the time I was feeling healthier, so I just gave myself the chance to go back on tour and give it all.”
Herrero says one of the biggest misconceptions about professional tennis is how few players are actually able to make a sustainable living.
“Only the players who are around Top 100 in singles and Top 50 in doubles are really able to make a living and consistently earn money from tennis,” Herrero explained. “Out of everyone competing on the WTA and ATP tours, that’s actually a very small number of players making a sustainable income.”
“The weeks where I don’t win a couple of matches, I’m losing money,” she said. “For me to cover my weekly expenses, I usually need to make at least the quarterfinals.”
Because of that reality, Herrero often has to compete without a traveling coach.