Keegan Smith remembers when his world went dark. He was riding a skateboard down Gayley Avenue, snaking along the edge of UCLA’s campus. He was listening to the song “Lauren” by a band named Men I Trust, gliding home from a friend’s place.
“Next thing you know, I wake up in the ER,” Smith said. “I was throwing up. My head was ringing. It felt like my back was broken. My whole body hurt. I couldn’t move my eyelids without excruciating pain.”
His world, to that painful point? An oyster, as some say.
Smith, a three-time CIF tennis champion at sun-splashed Point Loma High School, captured a national title in doubles for the Bruins. A professional future seemed all but certain. He would ride a hot racket to the horizon.
Then came the accident, the skull fracture, the blood clot, the memory loss, the noise and light sensitivity, the depression and darkness. He still is unsure about what happened — “my best guess is that I hit a parked car” — as his youthful sense of invincibility was shattered.
Smith’s story could be about the absurd comeback, winning a professional tournament in Texas five months after spending eight days in an intensive care unit. The focus could land on traveling the road back, building back his body from exhaustion at simply hitting a few balls against a wall.
Unpeeled, it’s more about rare and powerful perspective of which most his age are oblivious about while happily skipping through early days.
Sometimes, Smith smiles a little less. Always, he considers more.
“People get caught up in their lives and get down about their situation, their job or whatever it is,” said Smith, 24. “The fact that we’re all here today and breathing is pretty special.”
That’s why a wild-card invitation to play in the San Diego Open ATP 250, beginning Saturday at the Barnes Tennis Center, out-points special. The place is Smith’s racket-swinging home away from home, where he battered more balls than he can count, where he played ping-pong with friends, where he chased girls.
There’s a picture of Smith, maybe 9, in a hallway on a photo-filled wall that includes Taylor Fritz, the highest ranked American in the world at No. 12. The fact that Smith is making his ATP debut as a pro at this place, his place, causes him to shake his head.
“So many memories,” Smith said.
Yes, those are coming back too — along with his game.
“It was pretty scary,” Smith said of everything that came after a UCLA soccer player found him unconscious on a sidewalk. “For a while, I couldn’t remember some things. It felt like things were being taken away from me. Now, I’m not getting sad or anxious anymore. It took some time for my brain to come back to equilibrium.
No, Smith was not wearing a helmet. That’s the invincibility now replaced by sobering and sharpened perspective.
“There was a moment in the hospital where I felt like I could have died,” Smith said. “I was having these full-body cramps. I was in so much pain. I couldn’t do it anymore. There was a weird feeling of something calling for me to relax and give up. I said, no. It’s not my time yet.
“At that age, you don’t think about death much. Now I have this huge appreciation for life.”
The accident provided the spark. Tennis became the vessel. How could it not?
Smith’s father Jim, now a professor of accounting at USD, played in college at Tulane. In a wink from the sport universe, Smith grew up a massive USC tennis fan because his uncle Peter served as the long-time head coach.
Trojans rival UCLA, though, seemed the perfect fit.
“I grew up always wearing USC gear,” he said. “But when it came to deciding on a college, I kind of wanted to do my own thing.”
Returning to the court was humbling, initially. Smith and his father used to watch USD matches on campus. That led to hitting with assistant coach Sebastian Rey.
“I was out of breath after one rally,” Smith said. “But I was like, OK, I’ve got a second chance. I’m going to go for it. I just kept fighting.”
Smith moved to Orlando, home of the United States Tennis Association’s national campus. He dialed in his diet. He rebuilt legs and lungs. He fine-tuned that all important and growing perspective.
Then fueled Smith during the ultimate litmus test, a futures tournament in Lubbock, Texas.
“I didn’t really have any expectations,” Smith said. “It was my first tournament back. Whatever happens, happens. Then I won. That was my first pro title ever. That was insane to me, after being in the hospital.
“I was just happy to be playing and not being worried about the result at all. I think that helped me, having that outlook.”
The ascent continues. Earlier this month, Smith and doubles partner Nicholas Monroe won a first-round match at the U.S. Open in Flushing, N.Y. Tennis keeps illuminating a path.
All that darkness, giving way to brilliant light.
When, where: Sept. 17-25, Barnes Tennis Center
Players: San Diego’s Brandon Nakashima and fellow American Jenson Brooksby headline the player field. The highest ranked player in the tournament is Britain’s Daniel Evans, ranked No. 23.
Schedule: Day sessions begin at 11:30 a.m.; night sessions begin at 5:30 p.m. The tournament concludes Sept. 25, starting at 2 p.m.
Tickets: Prices start at $20 (qualifying) and $30 (main draw). https://barnessdopen.com/tickets
Additional info: https://barnessdopen.com/
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