Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Markusenka.
Hi Anna, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I came from a small European country – Belarus. I grew up in a simple working-class family. My parents worked at a factory. I never played tennis as a child, but tennis was my greatest love. I used to watch matches on a small television that stood on top of a freezer in our bedroom with my brother.
My childhood dream was to become a tennis commentator. It was one of those dreams that feels impossible — the kind you never truly expect to come true. The world I saw on television seemed like it belonged to another planet. The beautifully dressed spectators, the athletes, the stadiums, the tennis courts, it was a life I had never seen around me.
Attending the US Open felt completely out of reach. It was a Grand Slam tournament on the other side of the world, in New York City, one of the most expensive cities in the world. My idol was Rafael Nadal, and my goal was simple: to be wherever Rafa was playing and to see him in person.
I was born into an ordinary family. At the age of 19, after my brother passed away, my life and my family’s life became divided into “before” and “after.” I did not have much entertainment or leisure time growing up, and because of family circumstances, I had to mature early and understand realities that most people my age did not have to face.
During my university years, I worked at McDonald’s. I cleaned the dining area, worked at the register, woke up at 4:30 a.m. to be at work by 7:00 a.m., and then went straight to university after my shift.
I did not travel abroad until I was 23 years old.
After graduating from university, I found my first job as a marketing analyst on my own. Five years later, I realized that if I wanted to continue growing professionally, I needed to change careers. I decided to start over and retrained from scratch as an IT Business Analyst.
I learned English from the ground up and, after numerous unsuccessful attempts to enter the industry, I was finally hired by an IT company after receiving my seventh referral.
The company offered relocation opportunities to the United States – a country I had dreamed of visiting since my student years through the Work and Travel program. At that time, I was denied because I did not meet the requirements.
I was not qualified by level, experience, or language skills.
Over the next three years, I worked hard to become eligible. I transferred internally to a role that would support relocation, completed assessments to achieve a senior-level position, improved my English to work with U.S. clients, and gained experience on multiple projects to build a relevant professional background.
Eventually, the opportunity came to apply for a U.S. visa.
After a long process of preparing and submitting documents, my visa application was denied. It was a devastating moment that seemed to erase everything I had worked toward.
What made it particularly difficult was realizing that four years of effort had come down to a single appointment at an embassy, at a specific date and time.
At that point, I let go of the idea of moving to the United States. However, my company gave me one more opportunity to apply.
I am not exaggerating when I say that, while handing my documents to the consular officer, I told myself: “Go ahead and issue another refusal. This is my last attempt.”
By that point, I had already received three visa refusals of different types.
That time, I was approved.
I moved to the United States as a specialist recognized for exceptional abilities and advanced expertise in healthcare IT – an achievement I am very proud of.
I first lived in Chicago and later moved to Florida. In the United States, I finally started playing the sport I had loved my entire life: tennis.
I also achieved what once felt impossible – attending the US Open. I have been there multiple times between 2022 and 2025, and I am returning again this year.
Beyond attending tournaments as a fan, I have worked at professional tennis events, including the Miami Open and the Sarasota Open. I have also visited IMG Academy and the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Eventually, I started an Instagram page dedicated to my journey in tennis and the tournaments I have attended.
In many ways, it connects back to my childhood dream of becoming a tennis commentator. While I am not sitting behind a microphone calling matches, I am telling stories about the sport I love and sharing them with an audience that shares the same passion.
Today, I am working on my first tennis-related digital product, which I plan to announce and launch soon.
Tennis and content creation are where I see my future.
What began as a dream on a small television in Belarus has become a part of my everyday life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The biggest obstacle is yourself.
Until I was 23 years old, I had barely traveled beyond my hometown and the district where I grew up. My parents had never traveled abroad and had never changed their lives significantly. In a way, pursuing big dreams simply was not something people around me did.
My father wanted me to work at a factory, and we often argued because I knew that was not the life I wanted for myself.
I believe that if you want to end up somewhere you have never been before, you have to stop being the person you are today.
The hardest part was changing myself – overcoming my fears, changing my mindset, and allowing myself to believe that a different future was possible.
I worked with a psychologist for a year before I finally found the courage to change careers. Starting over from scratch was terrifying. The loss of my brother also left a lasting impact on many aspects of my life and influenced how I viewed risk, failure, and uncertainty.
I never focused too much on the final destination. Instead, I always tried to identify the next step that would move me closer to my goal.
That approach has guided me throughout my life.
The same was true when I started playing tennis and creating content. I launched my Instagram page from scratch just a year ago and experimented with countless content ideas before finding what resonated with people.
There were many moments when I cried and told myself that I was terrible at tennis and would never learn how to play well. Yet over time, I improved and made progress.
There were also moments when I felt like I knew nothing about content creation. But persistence paid off. Some of my reels have reached more than 2 million views, while others have reached 800,000, 300,000, and beyond.
What I learned is that progress rarely happens overnight. Whether it is building a career, moving to another country, learning tennis, or creating content, success usually comes from taking one small step after another and continuing even when you feel like giving up.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I feel like I live two different lives at the same time: an IT career and a life centered around tennis and content creation.
Professionally, I work on different IT projects with famous client names. At the same time, I am building my own business around content creation and tennis. It is not always easy because these worlds are very different. One is analytical, logical, and data-driven, while the other is creative and requires self-expression.
If I am being honest, I have never been one of those people who seemed naturally talented. Years ago, one of my managers was announcing the achievements of all team leaders. When he got to me, he said, “Anna achieved everything because of one quality: persistence.” At the time, I did not know whether to take it as a compliment or a sentence.
But the truth is, that has been the story of my entire life.
I moved to the United States as a highly skilled IT professional, yet I passed my university computer science exam only on my fourth attempt. I moved abroad even though, by the age of 23, I had barely traveled outside my own city. I started a tennis blog without really knowing how to play tennis.
What has always set me apart is that I was never stopped by the fact that I did not know how to do something. If I wanted it badly enough, I was willing to learn.
Today, my blog has grown into a platform that shares life through the lens of tennis. Along the way, I have had opportunities to attend and cover some of the sport’s biggest events, including the US Open (2022-2025), Wimbledon, the Davis Cup, the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and the Miami Open. I also worked at the Miami Open as part of the Court Access Team, helping manage credentials for players, media, staff, and tournament personnel. These experiences allowed me to see the sport from both a fan’s and an insider’s perspective.
As my platform continues to grow, I have also started collaborating with brands and creating content for companies within the tennis space. What began as a simple tennis blog has evolved into opportunities to build relationships, tell stories, and connect with people across the tennis community.
For me, tennis is about much more than sport. It is about personal growth, pursuing ambitious goals, and proving to yourself that you can start from zero and still build something meaningful.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
One thing that has helped me a lot with networking is being part of Instagram’s Creator Program. Meta invited me to join in February this year, and it has been a great opportunity to learn from other creators and better understand how to grow a personal brand.
It’s definitely not a magic shortcut where you suddenly gain 10K followers overnight. What it really provides is access to knowledge, tools, and a community of creators who are all trying to improve and grow. Looking back, I didn’t fully appreciate it at first, but there are over a million creators on Instagram, while this program includes only a few hundred participants. One person I am especially grateful for is Michael, my Meta Partner Manager. He has always been incredibly generous with his time and advice, helping creators navigate challenges and continue growing. I’m genuinely grateful that Instagram selected me and gave me that opportunity.
On a more personal level, one of the most impactful decisions I ever made was working with a psychologist about ten years ago. It completely changed how I think, communicate, and approach challenges. In many ways, it helped me build the confidence to pursue opportunities even when I had no experience and no guarantee of success. I honestly believe it changed my life for the better.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beacons.ai/thetennisanna
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetennisanna/
