u/Insomniac_life7781

I need some advice on this because the responses in my environment have been extremely mixed.

Ive been playing for about 7 months, atarted at 34, no prior experience. I am putting up 8-10 hours a week and people at my club have been telling me im very good for how long i have been playing, and should just try competing for a bit.

I was at a toss night from a different club a few months ago that hosts an international tournament (glta) that seemed like fun. I asked the ones i played with whether they thought i could join, and they told me to just give it a shot. Other people i talked to but not played with told me i shouldnt do tournaments if i havent played for over a year.

I ended up signing up in the lowest category (glta D) which is marked as 'beginners'. The organisation even contacted me to ask if i was a beginning tennis player, because i havent joined any leagues yet and dont have a ranking. I said yes. But I've looked at the competition in the D category of the tournament (this weekend), and the other players in my category have been competing for 5-10+ years, some of them in the D category havent lost a match and won in straight 6-0, 6-2 sets. They also joined C categories previously. This is an option because if they havent played enough glta matches, their ranking may not be aligned with their level and they can just sign up for the lowest category.

I feel like i just made a huge mistake and will just embarass myself on the court, and that all the people who told me i should gain more experience were right. Why do people playing for 5-10 years or more enter beginners categories? Tennis is my happy place and i was so excited to get some tournament experience, but now i doubt if i maybe shouldnt have waited till i just played at my club for longer.... dunno how long, just... longer. I didnt expect to really win, but i also didnt expected to get onesidedly destroyed. The times that happened to me, it wasnt fun for anyone involved.

How do you guys look at this? Any advice?

To whoever needs to hear this... You, dear reader, and me too, we deserve better. We deserve to have our valuable time invested into someone who wants to get to know us better too, and wont strictly confine us to our shared social group. Someone who wants to see us outside of group contexts, who enjoys our presence, who shows interest in us. Someone who would like to know what makes us tick too.

Someone who doesnt take 48 hours to reply to a text and cuts off all potential ways of prolonging the conversation naturally. Someone who is available. Someone who isnt hot and cold, clinging to our presence one moment and completely ignoring us the next.

You and I deserve someone who likes us for us, who appreciates our effort and who will match our energy and kindness.

I wish i could also feel this when my resolve wavers, and my knees buckle. My self worth is not tied to them, and neither is yours, darnit.