By Kevin Craig and Randy Walker
Nathan Pasha is enjoying life on the USTA Pro Circuit as he reaches the one year anniversary of his graduation from the University of Georgia, a school at which he was an All-American and has used his connections to work with and gain advice from fellow Georgia Bulldog John Isner.
What makes the life on the USTA Pro Circuit so fun for Pasha isn’t necessarily winning matches and earning money and points in the ATP rankings, but seeing the progress he has made as a person.
“You have to try to conquer yourself and see how good you can become as a person,” said Pasha about life on the pro tour. “From the discipline, to the sacrifices, and just dealing with struggles and pain of losing,”
Pasha, ranked No. 755 on the ATP computer for the week of May 2, claims that finding success on the USTA Pro Circuit is a matter of winning the ultimate battle with yourself. Looking at the general adversity of professional tennis as the most fun part of his life on the tour is Pasha’s way of keeping himself going week in and week out and not being discouraged if he comes across a rough patch of performance during the year.
Pasha’s goal for the near future is to reach the “three or four hundreds” of the ATP rankings and begin playing in more challenger level tournaments. However, the 2010 USTA National Boys’ 18 Doubles Champions is not going to let himself be distracted and discouraged if those goals are achieved further down the road than he hoped. Overall, Pasha just wants “to be the best [he] can be each day and then hope that everything takes care of itself.”
One thing that Pasha had to take care of himself early in 2016 was having to sleep in his car during a wild card tournament to get into the Memphis $25K event when he was unable to find housing.
“I’m more than willing to do it and to be honest, it’s not the worst thing in the world because, you know, with phones these days you can watch TV on your phone and it’s like you have everything there,” said Pasha about sleeping in his car. The time was spent watching “a little bit of tennis, a little bit of HBO, a little bit of South Park, really anything.”
Pasha came from a single-parent home in Atlanta, his mother Delmarie Payton raising Nathan and sister Natasha by herself, suffering economic hardships and being, at one point, being homeless as a family.
Pasha recently told a group of children at the Boys and Girls Club in Vero Beach, Florida of his struggles and eventual successes during the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships, a $10,000 USTA Pro Circuit event. It was at a Boys and Girls Club in Atlanta where Pasha was first introduced to tennis when someone asked the group of children if anyone wanted to play tennis.
“I was kind of debating whether I should raise my hand or not,” Pasha told The Red & Black newspaper at the University of Georgia in 2014 of his decision to first start tennis. “Then I raised it. Then I started playing every Friday from there on out.”
“Nathan is an ambassador for what is really important in the world we live …kindness and mentoring,” said Joe Pappalardo, a board member of the Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation and the Boys and Girls Club of Vero Beach. “He understands John Wooden, the late great UCLA basketball coach and mentor, who once said, ‘It takes one moment of time, one kind word to change a child’s life.’ Nathan acknowledged that he owes a huge debt to his Mom and to the Boys and Girls Club of Atlanta for giving him that ‘moment’ of time.”
Pasha has not let the financial struggles of the lower levels of professional tennis get to him, though, as “it all depends on how you look at things.” Pasha continued by stating that “the money part is what takes the fun out of tennis…I’ve just come to terms with the fact that I’m just going to be broke sometimes.”
No matter how successful Pasha’s career winds up being, he will remain humble and will not forget those who helped him get to wherever it is he ends up.
“My ultimate dream is to be top 20 in the world,” he said, “and ultimately be able to give back and help people as much as I can.”
