AS A CHILD on the Irish junior tennis circuit, Osgar Ó hOisín lost every single match he played. It was understandable. He was a newcomer in a technical sport that demands thousands of practice hours just to reach minimum proficiency.
Not quite born to play. Neither of his parents were reared around tennis clubs. His first exposure to a racket was at a UCD summer camp. Gradually, his family noticed a burgeoning enthusiasm. Immediate excitement every time he caught glimpse of a court through the car window.
From then on, they committed to supporting that passion all the way until it became his profession.
In the early days, there was defeat after defeat. His response post-match was always the same.
“Did you see that one shot I hit? It was unbelievable!”
Now as one of the few Irish tennis players on the pro circuit, it is a vision he holds close to his heart.
“My parents still laugh about it now,” he recalls with a smile.
“They remind me of that sometimes. I’ll be devastated after a loss in the pros and they’ll say, ‘don’t forget you’d get dropped when you were ten and the only thing you could remember was one good shot.’ As I get older, I actually try to hold onto that.
“It is a way to remember why you are playing. It is about enjoying what you are doing.”
The countdown is on!
— Tennis Ireland (@Tennis_Ireland) September 14, 2022
2 days to go until Ireland take on Barbados in the Davis Cup World Group II 🔥
Livestream link to watch from Ireland will be available soon🇮🇪
Tune in and get behind the boys in green!@daviscup @itftennis #COYBIG #Ireland #DavisCup pic.twitter.com/hVnpkxW1bi
Ó hOisín is part of a five-man squad currently representing Ireland as they take on Barbados in the World Group 11 Davis Cup. On Friday, he lost out to Darian King in the second singles match. Simon Carr secured a point for Ireland in the first match.
Ireland were handed a walkover against China earlier this year to progress to this stage.
The format is five matches over two days. Two singles, a doubles and two reverse singles. All matches are the best of three tiebreak sets.
Starting out his grand ambition to become a pro felt like a remote fantasy. The climb was steep from the start and he had to take it step by step. In his teens he started to show promise, becoming a multiple-time club champion in Donnybrook Tennis Club. From there he set his sights on the States.
There was no Tennis Ireland pathway. No funding or infrastructure. So he had to carve out his own.
“We can’t follow what others are doing,” the 26-year-old explains.
“We don’t have the same system as Italy. We won’t produce a 14-year-old prodigy who can turn pro at 17. That isn’t our trajectory. Our path will be different.
“I personally think playing college tennis should be a massive goal. Top college players are playing in the US Open this year. College tennis has got to a point where it is so professional, it should be the next step for 99.9% of players.
“The top juniors in the world ten years ago would have gone pro but now they go to college to develop physically, mature, get an education. For Irish players that is a great next step.
“It has become a huge sport there. A lot of teams recruit internationally. Sometimes the majority of the team is from outside the US, often it is 50-50. Coaches look at junior results and see who is doing well.
“Then they just reach out to you on Facebook messenger. ‘We have been looking at your results. We are interested in talking to you about coming here.’ They try to big up their college.
“I remember I was looking at a few different colleges and Wisconsin flew over their assistant coach to take a look at me. He only came for five hours. Got off the plane and went straight to the tennis court where we agreed to meet. I hit balls for 30 minutes with Dave O’Hare. He is the coach of Ram and Salisbury who just won the US Open doubles.
“Their coach said, ‘I like how you are hitting the ball.’ We took him back to the airport and he flew off again. That was it.”
Alongside his father, he flew to America for official visits to a variety of high-profile colleges. Miami, Florida, Louisiana. The last leg was Wisconsin. Their famed football team and the lucrative TV money it generates trickles down to other sports. The climate is colder. That means faster courts which suited his skill set. The team and coach were a good fit.
It meant moving his sporting life across the world and the sad reality is that he wasn’t leaving much behind. Ireland hasn’t had a player compete in a Slam since 2011. Tennis Ireland had its funding discontinued in the most recent Sports Ireland high-performance programme allocations. There are barely any clay courts in the country as artificial grass is the norm. That is unheard of in most of the world.
“It was entering a different stratosphere. Realistically, and it is sad, but even relatively mediocre schools have miles better facilities than any you will find in the nation of Ireland.
“The glamour associated with sport in America is one of my favourite elements of their culture. They dedicate so much time and money to elevate it to the next level. Allow you to be the best you can be.
“They have incredible facilities. What they do well is integrate sports. I’d train in the gym with Jonathan Taylor, now one of the best running backs in the NFL. You see these guys in the gym, sports facilities, nutrition rooms.
“We had entire smoothie bars for athletes. Meals and clothing provided. Cameras in the back of every court. Great locker rooms.
“I’m not so naïve as to think Ireland will ever get to that level. There are certain things they could do to generate some excitement and energy around it, for sure.
“That was one of the biggest things coming over. Ultimately, if you want to compete on an international level you need to be around high standards.”
From college to the pros was not a seamless transition. After graduating in 2019, he started out in 2020 with a meticulous plan. Covid tore it apart. That February day at a tournament in Mexico when officials started invading the courts mid-tournament to pull players off and send them home will live long in his memory.
Gradually it has started to get back on track. In tennis, there are three tiers of tournaments. ITF Future, Challengers and the ATP Grand Slams. In less than 12 months, Osgar has gone from an ATP ranking of 1339 to 811.
There has been a doubles win over Daniil Medvedev and Stefan Kozlov in a French tournament. He was recently matched with former World no. 14 Kyle Edmund and found himself 4-1 up before his challenge wilted. Enough sparks to hopefully soon catch fire.
“My long-term goal is to play in a grand slam,” Ó hOisín admits.
“I think that is achievable. Having seen the level that is there and the guys playing in grand slams, I see no reason why I can’t do it if I fully commit. If I believe I can too. That is the first step. To be a top 100 player hasn’t been done in Ireland before. That is the ultimate.
“To get into a Slam qualifier you need to be about 250. I might play a guy in Mexico in the trenches of a Future tour and a few months later he is playing in the US Open. It can happen quickly if your level is good enough.
“It is a tough sport. It takes a lot of effort and sacrifice. The higher you go the steeper the cliff gets. The smaller things become a factor. The small details are so important. Doing that every day without any chance of guaranteed success is tough but that is one of the great parts of the sport.
“Right now it is a personal drive. There is no money coming in at the moment. If it was only financial this is not the sport to play. A lot of it is to see how far can I push it.
“Funding is the single biggest factor. I’m essentially operating at a loss. On a shoestring budget. Another reason I play in the States is that it is cheaper if you have a decent network. I never pay for hotels because I ask every man and his dog if I can stay with them.
“Accommodation wise it is cheaper that way. In Europe, money would go into a black hole and not come out.”
For as big a barrier as funding is, it is dwarfed by the battle in his mind. He can still pinpoint the moment that realisation dawned.
Last February the Dubliner was fighting his way through a dog of a qualifying match in Valencia. A good ranking is required to get into the main draws so this tie mattered, and he was desperate to succeed. His opponent was of a similar level, also in the first steps of the pros.
Ó hOisín was holding on. Playing passive. Eventually, he snuck through and walked back to the dressing room feeling good. On his way, he passed centre court and was ground to a halt.
”This guy was training there. It was Carlos Alcaraz. I’ve never seen anything like how he was hitting the play. It was jaw-dropping. How were we playing the same sport?
“The freedom. The aggression. The fearlessness. This was something so different to what I just played. It really changed the expectations of how I want to play,” he says with lingering incredulity.
“I remember my first ATP ranking point. I was so tight before that. Thinking, ‘if I can just win this match, this would be huge for me. I might retire on the spot!’
“I’d be so happy with this one point. In Ireland that is a big deal but for a lot of these guys, it is nothing. Suddenly I win, get the point and realise it isn’t this massive thing.
“That is really important. Now playing someone who is 400 in the world, I don’t bat an eyelid. There is no reason I can’t win. You really need to build a belief.
“The main barrier is mental. There are errors tactically and technically of course, but that is most important.
“Watching him hit the ball was unbelievable. The speed and power. I thought I have to demand more of myself. It really changed the expectations of how I want to play. Even though I won, that won’t get me to my goal. You need to chase a certain standard.”
Victory this week would see Ireland advance to the World Group I playoffs, the most significant achievement of an Irish Davis Cup team in years. Osgar is the only team player who will play in three games, two singles and as part of the doubles.
The prospect of bringing a Davis Cup tie back to Ireland is a driving motivation. A chance to showcase that this nation does have talent and a cause to get behind.
After that? The goal is to close out 2022 by playing as many tournaments as he can. Competing beyond entry-level competitions in a bid to encounter the highest standard possible.
“It is hard to see the bigger picture in the Futures, but in Challengers there are guys who are in the top 100.
“Playing in those events, you see there is no real reason I can’t compete. I think some players get caught week after week, year after year in Futures. The ceiling there isn’t high enough. You need to be exposed to more.
“Why am I playing tennis? It is not so I can be in remote Tunisia playing some random guy. I want to play in front of crowds at the highest level possible. I need to be going to challenger events. Sometimes risking not getting into them, but forcing myself to adapt to those situations.
“Going there and saying that to myself. I’m trying to prove I belong here.”