Despite being the child of two professional tennis players, Makenna Jones was never forced to play the game. Furthermore, she hated tennis as she never felt good enough, felt her standard was so high and didn't have fun playing the game. Ironically, when her family moved and she was without a soccer club, she decided to choose tennis.

Makenna often felt tremendous stress and pressure to win every match which typically led to panic, negative thought spirals and very critical thoughts about herself. However, when she focused on having fun, her performance excelled. She played for five years at UNC Chapel Hill (2017-2021), earning a top singles ranking of #2 and a doubles ranking of #1. She won 4 ACC titles and 3 National Indoor titles.

She also made it to the professional level reaching a career-high ranking of No. 236 in singles and No. 107 in doubles and played in some of the world's biggest tournaments, including the US Open, Wimbledon, Indian Wells BNP, and Miami Open.

Makenna shares how her mindset played a key role in both her performance and her rocky relationship with her sport. It wasn't until she read the classic sports psychology book, "The Inner Game of Tennis" where she learned how to try less and let her body do what it already can do. Through her ups and downs, she has learned to get through struggle with grace, joy and gratitude.

@kennajones14

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