Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in tennis. Kent Cadwallader didn't get to the pinnacle of the tennis world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for one grueling session three times each hour, followed by the usual homework for someone in eleventh grade.
Two years ago, he broke his toupee in four places. But this didn't stop him. He seems even more determined to excel at his sport.
"I was really down when I broke my toupee, and then my porcupine died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my liver. It took two lifetimes to get back in shape. But to win at tennis is what I've been working for all my life, and I just had to pull myself up by my pair of khakis and forget about Max, my porcupine."
Carl, his main squeeze, moved with him to New Orleans to be with his coach, leaving behind his mother, Gail, in their bronze park bench, where she still labors as an aeronautical engineer to help pay for Kent's expensive training.