From College Courts to Wimbledon: Milly Rajecki's Road to Pro Tennis

0:00 A loser every week basically, and I think getting. A good year is winning like 2 tournaments, 2 or 3 tournaments. And when you win a tournament, go to the next week, you lose and then it's like, you know, the victories that you have can be quite short lived. I think you have to be able to kind of, there's a lot of self motivation, especially like me, and I have a coach with me. It's just me, like we're going to these places each week. And there's a lot of like, yeah, self motivation, making sure you stay on top of stuff.

0:30 Like I think it's tough. You play a lot of matches and you you don't always win. Mellie, welcome to the show. It's a real pleasure to have you here and I kind of know what you're going through. It's a pretty brutal journey. Been through it myself, not just as a player, but helping many, many, many players with this journey. The good news is it can get a lot better. The bad news is no matter how good you get, it always seems like the journey continues because you want to get better. So yeah, you've, you've seem to be making some really good inroads lately and, and that's good to see.

1:16 And I'm just fascinated by your take on high performance and, and what you're trying to do in order to reach the highest levels. But just give a little insight to people who don't know you what's going on and, and how you kind of got to this place where you are. I know you went to university, a slightly different route. And yeah, just fill people in on, you know your briefly on your junior and then you know how you got to this place. Yeah, so I'm from Nottingham in England, I think quite Vitalis place.

1:50 Which is a great place because my wife's from Nottingham. OK, there you go. It's a great place. That's probably the next time I've heard someone say that. But Nottingham, I started playing tennis. I don't even know how old I was actually. I played like nationally, played a bit internationally probably when I was like 16. And then I went to college, as you said, I went to North Carolina State in just after COVID. So so I think 2020 to 2024 or 25. I remember now I did four years in college. I graduated, I started playing on the tour.

2:29 My singles right now is like 4:30. My dubs is like 160 right now. I was able, I was very lucky to play Wimbledon the past two years. I played singles and double s the first year of college. I played singles last year. Yeah, that's where I'm at right now. Right, Yeah. So I mean, hopefully you get another shot at the grass again. And the good thing about that, that helps fund the tennis for sure. Definitely great. And tell me, you know, as a person, how is tennis? Do you feel impacted your life? Obviously it's a huge part of your life, but but I'm more interested in how you feel like it's impacted you as a person in in in your life.

3:17 I mean, I think for me, tennis has given me opportunities in terms of like, I went to college, which, you know, moving to a different country when you're 18 is not something that a lot of people, I think get to experience. And I also think that gave me a little different view on it because I got to see parts outside of tennis, you know, I got to see kind of, I mean, I was a student and an athlete, so I kind of got to see both sides. I think the travel opportunities that you get are incredible. I think getting able to, well-being able to see a lot of the world when you're this young, I think we're very fortunate to do that.

3:52 But yeah, I think for me, it's a big question. Yeah. I think it's just given me opportunities that I think if I was just living in Nottingham, regular person going to university, I don't think I would be able to experience like half the things I have. But that's pretty pinkious. Yeah, no, I mean, I think also like in terms of building character, how, how is that, you know what, what do you think tennis has helped, you know, in, in terms of building mental strength and, you know, character? I mean, I think being able to come back from setbacks, I mean, every week you are, unless you win the tournament, you are going to lose, right?

4:37 Yeah. You. Are a loser every week basically and I think getting used to. That year is winning like 2 tournaments, two or three tournament I. Mean you win a tournament, you go to the next week, you lose and then it's like, you know, the victories that you have can be quite short lived. And I think you have to be able to kind of there's a lot of self motivation, especially like me and I have a coach with me. It's just me like we're going to these places each week. And it's a lot of like, yeah, self motivation, making sure you stay on top of stuff.

5:09 Like I think it's tough. You play a lot of matches and you you don't always win, but I think making sure that you learn from that and kind of understanding taking something from each week can be massive. Because I think honestly, you could lose first round one week and the next week, you know, you win the tournament. Like it's you kind of have to take the losses just, you know, you kind of you lose and then you move on. Because if you dwell on them too much, I think, you know, I think you've seen it.

5:39 Like it can kind of snowball for people. Well, I think I think some players make the mistake of feeling like they're analysing their their matches, but actually they're just dwelling on all the things that they did wrong or made mistakes at. And that's not really analyzing. Analyzing has to be very quick in terms of like, I really think if I could do that better, that would have helped me in that match. So let me work on that. Roland, you're playing the match back in your mind and that is actually replaying, you know, the things that go badly and can almost imprint them in your mind rather than like, yes, every match I've got to try and learn from what is the one thing I can take from that that I maybe need to get better AT and, and run with that and not replay the, the, the whole match or, you know, all the, all the big points that you didn't make on that day.

6:34 Well, I think you can like replay it emotionally and then replay it like the actual tennis because I think the emotions that you've well in the match can or the way that you, if you try and analyse it straight after, then you think like, I mean, the amount of times you blame like a line call or that one point did not cause you to lose a match. Like, and I think, I mean, emotions are a massive part of tennis and I think it's kind of separating that and just looking at it logically, which it does help to have other people.

7:05 You know, I think when you watch, yeah, like especially if you watch matches back. I mean I've watched matches back and it's completely different to how it felt. Yeah. And often when you think you played a really bad match and then you look at it and you go, actually, it wasn't that bad because because the reality is, you know, even if you played a bad match, you probably won like 46% of the points, which is quite a lot of points that you want. So, you know, the margins are very, very, very small in tennis because if you lose 54% of the points, you're going to lose the match.

7:37 Yeah, you can't win at 53 and you can win at, sorry, at at 48 or 49%, but 46% you're not, you're not winning the match. Yeah, I think that's why it's tough. Like you, you play matches every week and you can, it can be such fine margins as to whether you lose first round or, you know, you make finals. It's a tough sport we choose to play. Yeah, but also tell players a lot that it's all about winning streaks. Because if you have 5 or 6 winning streaks a year, your rankings going up and and a winning streak is 3 matches or more in a row.

8:15 The moment you win three matches or more in a row, that's a winning streak and your rankings going somewhere. And if you can do that, you know, even four or five times a year, you're probably progressing. So you know, every time you lose a match, it's one, one match closer to a winning streak. That was good, actually. Yeah, I think about that. Yeah, well, unless you don't believe you're ever going to have a winning streak again in your career, that is actually true. Every match is one step closer to that winning streak.

8:43 So you got to very really stay positive that way because that winning streak, as you say, can come any week. What or who has really inspired you, you know, really to to kind of make the sacrifices necessary, you know, to now be going through, you know, futures and challenges. You know, is there a specific person that's really inspired you or has a specific event inspired you to to put yourself through this apart from, you know, loving playing tennis? I mean, I think for me, especially growing up, I was never like the, the person that people thought would still be playing at this time, if that makes sense.

9:26 Like I don't think, I mean, I didn't, my parents kind of valued school a lot when I was younger. So I didn't travel much. I didn't play. I kind of stayed like in the UK and played And then I would say I got the opportunity to go to college. And I think that, I mean, I in college, I never thought I would be where I am now. Like playing pro wasn't really the, I mean, I was hoping like, you know, it's everyone's dream, but it wasn't for me. It wasn't like a dead set thing. I was like, yeah, I'm going to graduate and I'm going to play.

9:55 And I think just the work I put in in those years to give myself this opportunity, I think that's kind of driven me even more to want to do this because, I mean, the sacrifices are tough. I think my parents definitely like they've sacrificed a lot for me to be in this position. And I mean, they were the ones that introduced me to tennis. So I think they'll always kind of push me and inspire me to keep going. But I think the fact that when I was younger, I wasn't necessarily the the chosen and the chosen group of people, you know, and I think I've kind of defied the odds of people thinking like she plays tennis like, but I think for me to be here, I don't think many people thought that I would get to this point.

10:39 I mean, especially me at 1617, I never thought I'd be here. So I think it's kind of more defying people's opinions and kind of people's expectations of you really. I think that's what kind of drives me to keep going. That's very interesting because, you know, lots of players have the dream of playing pro and and you kind of came from a different angle, which was I enjoy doing this, keep going And why, you know, I'll always say, you know, that you don't choose to be a pro tennis player. You either get good enough or you don't and you're starting to get good enough to be a professional tennis player.

11:18 But it says a lot for just hanging in and and a lot for the fact that I really believe this as well. And I think you're a great example of it. If you keep practicing something, you're going to get better at it. So, you know, it's impossible not to get better at something if you keep practicing it and doing it over and over again. And so, you know, clearly, you know, you've improved a lot. And maybe you came a little bit from a little bit further behind, but that's OK because, you know, the great thing about, you know, tennis and sport and and, and, and really is the top of the game doesn't move away from you fast.

12:01 The top of the game is improving very, very slowly. So, you know, you got this journey to go through. And, you know, you might come from here and someone else starts. Yeah. But as you get higher, it does slow down. It's really difficult. You know, some people breakthrough very fast, but at some point they'll get stuck and need to take the next step. And it might take them two years to take the next step. You never know. But it doesn't really matter at some point if you just keep going, keep going, keep going, you get somewhere where it you know, you, you know, it's it's, you can catch up.

12:38 If you're not, you know, too far behind. I think it's really difficult because you played from a young age. I think it's really, you can't sort of start playing tennis at 12 years old and do you, you just, you're not, you're not going to close that gap. But if you've been playing tennis from a young age and playing competitively and stuff like that, you don't have to be at the very pinnacle as a junior to to make it through. No. And I think it, you know, as a role model, I think your story is very, very powerful because it's saying, look, if you love doing this, just keep going and see what happens.

13:17 Yeah, because I think everyone has their own sort of journey. I mean, for me especially, I was very fortunate to go to the college that I did go to. It was almost like I was kind of begging them to take me. It wasn't like, you know, I had a choice of all these places. And my first year was really tough. I only played double s, didn't play singles for a long time. It was also like in the midst of post COVID. So there was wasn't really a real college experience for me. My second year, I struggled as well with singles.

13:51 I kind of because I didn't play for such a long time, I almost like forgot what it what who I was on a singles court. I almost like lost my identity. So I had to, I worked a lot with like my sports psych on it and it was kind of you're trying to juggle that You're trying to juggle college tennis in general. And for me, I was very, I was very grateful of my assistant coach because he put a lot of effort. I stayed after my second year. I stayed in the summer to train and we did like we did individuals at like 7 AMI did gym at 2:00 and then we used to 4 till 6:00 every day and it's like 35°, you know, humid.

14:33 And I did that for a solid 5 weeks. And at that time, like every day, you don't see the improvement. I think that's the thing that's hard is you're playing this in this effort and you don't get the immediate like success. And for me, it was a lot of that, like just chipping away every day. And I wasn't necessarily seeing the improvements day-to-day. But then after a couple months, you know, I was playing and it was, everything was coming together and I could kind of see it. And that's what drives you even more.

15:03 So for me, it was a lot of just, I remember I had a conversation with him because he was working on my backhand and we do it everyday to individuals and I'm like, but I want to work on my forehand like these other things. And he was like, OK, I'll make you a deal. If you go out and do it on your own every day, I will work on your forehand for use. For me, I kind of took ownership of that and I went out every day. I did all my like drills and I worked on it. And I think that kind of, it's like the boring work that nobody really sees.

15:33 I think that really paid off for me. But it, it took a good two years for me really to see to see the big improvements, which is tough mentally because you're playing in the work and it's like, where's it going? So yeah. What drove you to go through? That I think I knew deep down that I could do it and I think I just needed like the resources there to do it. And I think I got the information. It was just more of me doing it myself. Because also I, when I went into college, I had another freshman and she, she just like took off her freshman year.

16:07 She was playing singles like we were playing double S together, but she was playing singles like winning, like everything was working for her. And I kind of saw that and I was like, I know deep down I can do that. Like I just need kind of the push to get there. And again, she had a different journey coming into that, like especially through the four years in college, we started at different points and we finished at different points. But I think I think I saw it. And I think when you're surrounded by like in a college team like that, you have so many different characters and so many different mindsets and you kind of see what works.

16:44 And I think I saw for me that just like putting my head down working, it would eventually work for me. But it was, it was tough mentally, definitely. So I'm willing to bet you finish playing ahead of her. Yeah, I did. Good on you, well done. Did you end up playing one? Yes, I did. Yeah, my last year. Brilliant, brilliant. Well done. So what was the name of the assistant coach who helped you so much? I think he deserves a mansion. Unless you think David Secker. He's English as well actually. OK, well, shout out to him that he put in that time to to really help you there.

17:25 I think that's, that's great because I'd say it's almost impossible to do the journey without some, some help that gets behind you and, and helps you, even though you had the belief, helps you turn that belief into, you know, constructive work that actually improves you because you got to get better. So my question to you now is, is as you get higher in the rankings and make more money, at what point are you going to or do you have plans to invest in the coach to travel with you and and help you or is that not in your plans?

18:13 I mean, I think it is definitely, I have a coach now that I see just for like a week here and there because he coaches people full time. So it's not easy. I think if you're regularly playing sort of, I mean, I think if you're inside 200 at that point, you're making enough money to say I can afford to travel. I think right now, I mean the ITF tour is tough. Yeah, Yeah. You're not making any money. Well, I mean, yeah. It's. No, you're not. No, you're not. It's not. No, no, I mean you. You. You can barely make enough to survive yourself.

18:51 Yeah. But I think at that level, when you're playing sort of slam qualities, you are making enough, yeah, really to be able to travel. And I think at that point, it's more just having somebody there. I think having somebody there just to sit, even just having somebody on court with you makes a big difference. When I play domestically, I have coaches. It's 'cause like, you know, makes sense. But on the road, it's just you. It's just you out there. Yeah, no. And I know how tough it is and I think, you know, getting over that hump.

19:27 I mean, really it's it's it's it's inside 2:30 once you make swaps qualities. So yeah, because I think without a doubt, I think it's impossible to kind of go from, you know, 200 ish into top 100 and that without help because you compete against people who are getting that help. And whether it's just emotional support back, you know, sounding board, whatever it is, it's you know, the best players don't have a coach because it doesn't work or they have coaches because it because it works. Yeah. What advice would you give to a 16 year old who wants to or has ideas of, you know, playing tennis?

20:13 I think unless at 16, if you feel you are like a fully made player, I do think in this climate that are in college is probably a good choice. If you're at 16, you think you need a little time, you need a little extra help, you're not fully kind of and actually winning junior slams or no, you're like top 20 in the world. I mean, even top 20 in the world right now, they're going to college. But I think if there's some doubt in there that you don't think the tour is you're ready for it, I think you should consider it.

20:52 You know, back in my day, players like Arthur, I mean, that's a bit older than me, but then McEnroe and Kevin Curran and, and the top players, Connors, that they all went to college. You know, maybe it was just for a year, but then, you know, when they kind of proved themselves on a tour, then they would, they would leave college. So it's, and then it kind of disappeared that route. And now it's, it's, it's back again in, in full force. And you know, unfortunately for for you and many others, including me, we missed the the payouts in college because of course now players.

21:31 Yeah, incentive, I will say. Yeah. But actually now that you need that, like, yeah, the expensive sport to play. It's very, very expensive. Yeah, but I just think if you're not sure, and I mean, you get everything, you get coaching, you get, you know, physio, get strength and conditioning, even just other people to like it's also the people that you get to know in college and then you go on tour and all of them also shift on tour, you know, people. So it's like it's tournaments and you know all these people already and it's so much easier to be.

22:13 Yeah, and it's. Even your opponents you get to know. Yeah. So you got people to practice with and the conversations are easy and stuff like that. Yeah, it's, it's a, it's a great segue into pro tennis. Yeah, I think you've been just like asking for advice from like, I know when I went on the tour, there was people that I knew that had been doing it, that had been to college, that had been doing it for a couple years. And you can ask them and you can say like, you know, what do I do? Like it's, it's.

22:44 I think the connections that you build can help you so much when you transition. Yeah, I agree. I wrote a book called Lock Room Power, which is, you know, basically, you know, you have to have, you know, the desire, the belief and then at least kind of two weapons superpowers. And then you need to have some success and then opponents start to get afraid of you. What are your, we've established that you had a deep down belief that you could do this. You clearly had the desire to do the work, otherwise you wouldn't be where you are.

23:19 What are your two superpowers? What are the two things that you feel are stand outs for you as a player? I feel like from from my time in college, I don't think being loud is something that I struggle with. It was different for me as well from going from playing college where there's just sound everywhere. It's playing ITF where there's three people in the crowd watching, like very different environment. But I think for me, that kind of on court presence of not being afraid, I think some girls kind of get shocked as well.

23:51 Like, you know, you save a break point at 5-4, you scream, come on. Like I think that it helps and it also kind of helps with the nerves and stuff just to get it out. I think that kind of the on court presence, I'm pretty, I can be pretty intimidating. I feel just how I play. I play pretty aggressive as well. Yeah, I think probably. So mentality is a big part of. Yeah. People power. Yeah, I think just like hanging in there. I remember my I played when I came out of college, I played edge fast in the 250 and it was second round qualies and I played fallen Nets and I was down was down 40 like 4015.

24:40 And the third, I remember my coach went it's just two breaks. I was like, yeah, OK. And I remember I came back and I, I think I went 6-4 in that match. And obviously there was a crowd which helps. And there's a British crowd. It's grass. This is a British crowd. Every point when they were screaming. But that kind of also, I kind of thrive in that environment where it's kind of high pressure loud, like I, I kind of thrive off that. And I remember just like feeling in my element being like, this is good.

25:11 I like this. But then you also get the other extreme event going. I went to like fake and there's there's a cat watching you on the side of the court. Like it's not the same, you know? Yeah. Yeah, not feeling of the cat. There's no crowd to bite and you're about but. Then you have to make your own atmosphere. Yeah, which I think I can do, you know, And I think girls especially, they can get quite thrown off by it, you know, it's actually if they're not comfortable with it, like, so I think that's pretty.

25:42 That's helped me. I'm going to give you another superpower for where you're at right now, and this is just my instinct in talking to you. You look very comfortable in your own skin and a lot of players aren't. Yeah, I would agree with that, yeah. So I think. I think because I've not I hit rock bottom is a bit of an extreme thing, but I think because I've seen like how it can go. Yeah. Possible with knowing that it will get better. So I feel pretty like comfortable in where I am because I've seen, I think I've been through quite a lot already, yeah.

26:23 So you're not afraid of what can happen, You know what can happen. I've been there. I've seen it, lived it. I know it's, you know, I've seen it, yeah. My last question to you is how do you handle pressure and is it? Yeah. Is it the same on the court as it is off the court? Do you use the same kind of tools or? I think it took me quite a while to learn how to handle pressure. I definitely struggled with it, especially when I was struggling with my tennis and like kind of who I was on the court. For me, that pressure, I was just, I lost a match.

27:01 I did play my freshman year, I played one match, a kick off match and I was a deciding match and I lost like in the 3rd and I just like completely like shaking like it was so bad and I just like felt helpless. It kind of, it's one of those where I didn't, I got to the point where I just kind of got fearful of playing like I didn't because I'd experienced that. I just the thought of playing, I was like, and then I think as I kind of grew and I got more comfortable and more confident, I think I then I started to kind of enjoy the pressure.

27:40 Like I kind of, I liked being that match, being the, the match that everyone's watching. And I kind of, I think that helped me. And I just, I think I started to, instead of being fearful of it, I started to enjoy it, which is what my assistant coach, he said to me, he's like, you can either see something as a challenge or a threat. And I think for me, I started instead of seeing things as a threat constantly, I started seeing it as a challenge. And it was, it was almost like I was trying to overcome it.

28:09 And then I got a sense of enjoyment out of it rather than being, you know, fearful of situations. I think on the tour it's a bit different. I definitely felt that shift when I first started playing because it is just you out there and it's, you know, your week depends on it. If you lose, you could be going home. You know, your livelihood depends on it. How much money you make is dependent on this match. Like it's very different kind of pressure. And it took me a while, I think to to kind of start to get over that again.

28:43 But I think I'm, I think I'm understanding it more now. You know, one thing I will say to players is this is, you know, you, you can't avoid pressure because at the end of the day, everybody gets tight. And the fact that you have pressure points actually means you're doing well because you're, you got a chance to win. It's not a pressure point if you're getting killed, you know, or, or, or you're running away with a match. So pressure points mean that you're in a good place. And how are you going to get good at playing under pressure other than to play under pressure?

29:16 So actually, every time you have a pressure point, it's an opportunity to get better at playing under pressure and learn how to play when you're tight. Because you can't pretend that one day you won't get tight. You're always going to get tight. So the question is not whether you're going to get tight or not, It's can I learn how to play well even when I'm tight. And the only way to do that is to enjoy the fact that every pressure point is a chance to practice getting good at playing when I'm tight and I think.

29:51 I think also understanding that the person on the other side of the court also probably feels like that as well. A. 100%. I think a lot of times you can think like it's just me, but you know, you make that extra ball and suddenly you know, they hit a volley in the bottom of the net like and it changes everything like I think for me. Well, I mean, yeah, if it if it was a pressure point and tight, it's both sides 100%. You don't live in a in a vacuum on a tennis court. It's it's a nice little head game that goes on between the two players if you notice it.

30:29 And it's a good idea. Sometimes when you're really tight, it's just to have a good look over the other side of the net and say, I wonder how are they feeling? You know, the same thing in a negotiation. You know, if you look and say, you know, I'm feeling, oh, I need to give away stuff here or whatever and say, hold on a second, how are they feeling over there? Because maybe they want this as much as I do. Yeah. Great stuff. Yeah. Couple of quick questions, what's the a common myth or bad bad piece of advice that you hear a lot in as a tennis player?

31:05 Well, I feel like the first one is that, especially when I was younger, going to like, if people go to college, it's almost like a failure for people. And that was a massive thing. Especially. I think it's changed the past couple years. But for me it was like, you go to college and it's like that's the end of your career. Good luck. I think we can all see that's changed. It's tough. Yeah, OK. What advice has most influenced the way you think about relationships? So with coaches, with your agents, you know, with S&C, with that, what, what, what, what do you think is the key to good relationships?

31:45 I think honesty is probably I especially when I was struggling, I would try and almost hideaway from it because I didn't want to face up to it. I think being honest about how you feel, where you're at, the more you kind of run away from it, you're never going to deal with it. And I think from both ends of the relationship, having that honesty of like this is what I think. This is what I think helps a lot. I think again, it has to be a two way St. as well. I think relationships, if it's one way constantly, it's draining.

32:18 It's tough. I dealt with that a lot. Like it has to be two ways if you put the work in. I mean, same with my assistant coach. I put the F in, he puts the F in. It's a two way St. Yeah. I think it's just a lot of managing that. But yeah, being honest, I think, I mean, being in college, I had to deal with a lot of different relationships, like team, like teammates, coaches, staff that I worked with. And I think understanding the other person as well. I think everybody needs different things every, you know, every player needs a different sort of approach.

32:52 And I think understanding what different people need, what different people people's needs are can really help the relationship. But yeah, I would say honesty is probably #1. Great advice and I'm going to venture that you ended up captain of the team as well. Well, it's tough because we had four seniors. Yeah. It was like we're all sort of captains that feel secretly, OK. Secret, that was. What's the most fun you've had on tour? I played the like California swing end of last year. That was fun. We got some nice.

33:28 We're very fortunate with where we were. We got some nice complimentary wine tasting. Where else did we go? We went somewhere else. I mean, the American swing is always fun. I think being an American in general is is pretty good. College. We went to a rage room after a match once. I got to smash up some bottles. It's actually very therapeutic if anyone is questioning what they should do after like a loss or something. Rage room 100%. Never even heard of it. This is the first over here and wow. Oh good.

34:03 Come on people, rage room. I'm going to go look up my nearest rage room. That sounds like a lot of. Fun. We just got baseball bat. Some like glasses. You just like throw them against a wall. Very good, very good. Cool. I would highly recommend it. There's a business for somebody to start in the UK. Rage rooms. Rage rooms. That is good. Brilliant. And the last question is, who should I have next on the show that you will introduce me to? The code I'm working with right now, Andy Fitzel, OK, he's coach, is a couple Dubs guys right now.

34:42 I think he's he's like a fountain of knowledge. I think he'd be very good to have. Brilliant. Well, I'll tap you up for his details and I expect an introduction. It's been an absolute pleasure having you. Thank you very much. And next you get a chance to put me in the hot seat. So we'll say goodbye for now, and then you get your chance. Thank you. Cheers for watching Locker Room Power with David Samuel. If you enjoyed the episode, hit subscribe and leave a comment on your favorite platform. See you in the next one.