Dubai: A former top tennis professional is coming to terms with life off the fast lane after choosing to make the UAE his home away from home.
For Peter Wessels, one of the well-known tennis players from The Netherlands, the UAE is about finding his new vacation as he shuttles between Abu Dhabi and Dubai pursuing a completely new self-imposed assignment of "bringing out the best from the young ones".
"I've always wanted to live outside Holland for maybe two or three years. The idea is just try to learn something about the culture and see how people live in a different part of the world, learn a different language and do all kinds of things that I could not while I was a pro," Wessels said.
And just when he was getting ready to quit a career, he got in contact from an old junior circuit friend Sigi Meews (a former tennis pro who now works in the UAE), who asked him to come over and pursue his second love in his life.
Wessels now trains youngsters at the Zayed Sports City and the Repton School in Dubai, and after more than a decade of travelling he reached a career high ranking of No.72 [in February 2005] on the ATP Men's Tour. But it had to stop some time and that moment came a couple of years back when Wessels — who turned 33 last week — decided to call it quits to "enjoy life on the slower lane".
Hungry for more
"The first two months I did absolutely nothing. I travelled a bit, went to exotic places such as Thailand, Nepal and Cambodia and got to see the spiritual side of myself," Wessels told Gulf News after winning his first official title in the UAE at the 2011 Shaikh Zayed Cup that concluded at Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort last weekend. He misses the action of the tour — the travelling and staying on the edge along with the hunger to do better at each tournament.
"Perhaps, I do miss the adrenaline of being on the circuit, but definitely I would not trade the peace and quiet of what I am presently doing for anything else in the world," Wessels said.
"Travelling around the world and seeing so many beautiful places is the good part of being a pro, but at the same time life can be so lonely and difficult," he said.
After the end of his career, Wessels stayed back and trained youngsters and travelled with them as well on the circuit from their training base in Amsterdam.
"But I always wanted to work and reside in a different country. And for now, the UAE is where Wessels wants to be.
"I have a certification for training from Holland. At the moment I am enjoying what I am doing, but I will see it every year to see if I like and enjoy what I am doing. I will certainly stay here till 2012, after which I will decide what to do with myself," Wessels said.
"There are a couple of good facilities for junior development here including the one at the Zayed Sports City [Abu Dhabi] and I enjoy my time here. I like my life as a retired pro. I am much more relaxed and much more of a person," he said.
