Former Australian Open and Wimbledon junior champion Luke Saville admits "the fire has run out" as he edges closer to retirement after a successful career.
The 30-year-old rose to prominence when he won the 2011 Wimbledon junior title and 2012 Australian Open junior title, going on to play 724 singles matches and clinch 11 ITF singles titles.
His doubles career was even more impressive, playing 572 professional matches, picking up 31 titles and reaching the 2020 Australian Open men's doubles final alongside Max Purcell.
Saville caught up with The First Serve host, Brett Phillips, during Monday night's radio show on SEN as he explained how proud he is of the numbers produced throughout his career.
"When you read those numbers out, I think: 'Yeah, it wasn't a bad career.' I've actually achieved quite a bit and it's actually nice to hear the numbers," Saville told The First Serve.
"Obviously I've been a part of it, [I've] done the journey and sometimes you get a little sidetracked over some of the difficult moments of the journey, but when you look back on it, there's so many rewarding parts."
The tennis grind can become exhausting to the point where tiny obstacles can be cumulative as the years roll on.
When asked what the future has in store, the former doubles world No.23 confessed that his playing days could be nearing conclusion.
"Probably coming to the end, to be honest," Saville confessed when asked about his playing future. "The last few months I've been doing a fair bit of thinking and reflecting, and I sort of feel like the fire has probably just started to run out.
"I know how difficult it is now to break through and make it on the tour. I feel like I've probably lost that level a little bit. [I've] been spending more time with Dasha [Daria Saville] travelling with her a bit more, bringing a little bit of perspective.
"Probably in January I'm looking at maybe life past playing professional tennis.
"It's been over two-thirds of my life, so I've been doing some reflecting and a few public speaking appearances about my journey. It's been a very humbling experience, really taking it back to when I was five years old and how I started playing tennis.
"It's been an amazing journey. Tennis has been my whole life, so I'm so happy and humbled with all the experiences it's brought me."
While Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz currently dominate the men's game on another planet, there are different echelons in a large ecosystem of tennis players fighting for prize money and ranking points.
For Saville, he can look back with minimal regret.
"For me, [I'm] very happy with the success I've had on the doubles tour," Saville said.
"Probably the one thing I would've loved was to break into the singles a little bit more. [I] had a bit of a run there in my early years straight out of juniors and couldn't break through, probably for various reasons.
"I look back on it and representing Australia at the Olympics and Davis Cup were probably my number one and two things [in terms of] my biggest achievements.
"The amount of places and people I've met, I keep coming back to this, it's about the experiences and the relationships and connections I'll have for the rest of my life. Those are the true things I value and have gotten out of my career."
Once the curtain officially closes for any professional athlete, that's when it's typically most challenging for former players to discover their next passion and begin their next chapter.
Although he doesn't have a specific job in mind to pursue as of yet, Saville is keeping his options open.
"I still want to stay involved in tennis. I'm not sure what I'll do for a career post-playing, but I think I'll definitely be based in Melbourne. [I] love the state grade. [I] played for Royal South Yarra [and] love the club and the long-standing relationship Dasha and I have with them," he said.
"I still absolutely love the sport, but I've just probably fallen out of love with the travel component at the pro level, but [I'm] so happy with everything tennis has given me throughout my life."
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