Alison Van Uytvanck gets candid 'behind the racquet'

In a new entry in Behind the Racquet's photo-essay series, WTA pro Alison Van Uytvanck opens up about her tough times growing up in the glare of hurtful comments from peers, and from coaches who didn't see promise in her budding play as part of the Royal Belgian Tennis Federation.

Speaking of her experiences from ages 10 to 11, Van Uytvanck, now 25, shares, "I quickly realized it was not going to be what I thought it would. I began to be bullied every day by the other kids, who were mostly guys. They would constantly make fun of my hair and it would make me feel miserable. I never felt so alone, having no friends and unable to really talk to parents. I felt like opening up about my bullying, especially to my parents, would just make other people’s lives tougher and I never wanted that. After about a year of dealing with this I finally said something to the coaches. They spoke to the kids about the issue, which only helped for about two days until it went back to ‘normal.'"

Van Uytvanck describes ultimately being "kicked out" of the federation's high-performance youth programming after on- and off-court pressures and challenges including being "consistently injured."

"It was the toughest moment of my life, but has made me the person I am today," she writes, later adding, "As many know, I came out about three years ago, when I was 22. From what I went through it gave me the courage to open up about my sexuality, which I was nervous to do. I have been fortunate to find my girlfriend, Greet Minnen, who I have been with for the past three years now. It was nice to know that my parents dealt with me coming out well, they just wanted me to be happy and healthy. My girlfriend ... is one of the first people, outside my family, to give me confidence and tell me I’m beautiful just the way I am, including my hair."

Van Uytvanck goes on to describe being "shocked" at the positive response she received on social media after coming out publicly. She and Minnen even competed together in this year's women's doubles event at Wimbledon before drawing each other in singles play in Luxembourg. Within all this, what's crucial is that she's quite comfortable with her station in life at present.

"I feel like myself now, doing what I want to do, even participating in Pride Day during the US Open," she said of the season's final major event staging an #LGBTennis panel session with guest speakers including Billie Jean King, Van Uytvanck, and Minnen.

She continues: "Through all my experiences I feel like I need to share my story with others to hopefully help them. My girlfriend and I will sometimes train back at the federation and we talk to as many kids as possible. We tell them how important it is to show respect and tell them if they ever need help or have questions that we are there to answer. We have already helped kids get through events in their life. This makes it all worth it."