Tennis Pro Swaps Racket for Railgun

kleptonin writes "David Kinnaird, a young professional tennis player from Scotland, has given up the world of tennis for the world of competitive online gaming. His reason? He believes that it will be far easier for him to make a living shooting virtual people in the face rather than smacking some balls around." From the article: "The worlds of pro-tennis and pro-gaming are close, said Mr Kinnaird, because both require players to live and breathe their discipline. The excellent hand-eye co-ordination that helped him to become a good tennis player would make him a better gamer too, he said." Here's hoping he knows what he's getting into. Just a little bit more smack talk in online gaming than in tennis.

Comments

Fame a Factor?

[christian.elliott]

What I'm wondering is how much his fame as a Tennis Player played in his acquisition by 4 Kings (the Gaming team). Is he really good enough to play competitively, or did they just throw him on the team because he'll get them media coverage (as is happening now).

I for one will be interested to see how he makes out at the CPL and alike. Will he be successful? Will this be a break for competitive gaming? We'll have to wait and see.

Staying slightly On-Topic, if anyone didn't catch the 60 minutes special on Fatal1ty and Professional gaming, check it out. I found it quite interesting.

Re:Fame a Factor?

[AKAImBatman]

IIRC, Thresh was an asian kid who basically wiped the floor in the original Quake. A friend of mine claims to have met him online once. He says that the guy came barrelling in from a tower overhead, rocket jumps from one side of the structure to the other, firing a rocket downward at my poor, hapless friend in mid jump. The guy was good.

He later went on to work for PC Gamer, but he never really seemed to "get into" that job.

Re:Fame a Factor?

[AKAImBatman]

And what'dya know? Wikipedia has an article.

Smacktalk

[grub]

Just a little bit more smack talk in online gaming than in tennis.

You've never seen John McEnroe play.

Fringe benefits?

[192939495969798999]

Being a pro tennis player has way better fringe benefits than being a pro video game player.

Scotland, as everyone knows...

[aapold]

As everyone knows, Scotland is the World's worst tennis-playing nation.. This can only mean...

Aliens mean to win Quakecon!

Fitness

[steveo777]

He'll soon change his mind when he notices the loss of energy and strength. When you work out all the time and suddenly stop there is a massive difference. You won't stay awake easily, and you'll start relying on coffee or other caffiene products. Muscles will start to atrophy without constant use, and consequently, your matabolism will plummet. Now you're storing all the energy you eat.

Athaletes that quit cold turkey tend to turn into fat guys a lot quicker than they think.