Stringing together a dream: Dimas Mendez's journey from Puerto Rico to pro tennis

Mendez also spent six months training under Prokes, developing his expertise as a racquet technician and equipment specialist. He later put those skills to use at the USTA National Campus, helping promising American juniors customize their racquet setups, from string selection to weight and balance.

That combination of technical knowledge and coaching ambition eventually opened another door.

When former UCLA Bruin Keegan Smith was struggling with pain while hitting, Mendez helped him find a new racquet that better suited his needs. Impressed with his expertise, Smith hired Mendez as a traveling coach, and the pair spent eight months working together starting in mid-2024. In their very first event together, Smith reached his maiden ATP Challenger Tour semifinal as a qualifier in Jinan, China.

While Mendez brought extensive equipment knowledge and on-court experience to the partnership, he believes his greatest contribution came away from the court.

"My main work with him was psychological," Mendez said. "This, for me, is the most important part of tennis."

For Mendez, helping players manage the mental challenges of professional tennis is as important as improving their technique or tactics. He points to the pressures, homesickness and emotional struggles that many Challenger players face.

"On the court, anyone can train you," he said. "But outside the court, not a lot of coaches are able to talk to their players in a way that they can keep building confidence."

Inspiring the next generation

Mendez lives his life with a fiercely positive attitude and a belief that anything is possible with hard work and dedication. His tennis career is a testament to that.

"I'm a person that likes to grow every year, wants to do something better than I did the year before. That's what keeps me going," he said. "I'm always motivated. It's always a fight against myself, not against anyone. It's like a race against myself."

A lifelong learner, Mendez calls himself a "sponge" and is always looking for ways to improve his craft—even after establishing himself at the elite level.

"I think in tennis, in any aspect, as a coach, as a stringer, as a US Open ambassador, if you think you know it all, that's when you're done," he said, referencing a previous role at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

That mindset has also motivated him to pursue certification through USTA Coaching.

"It's important to use certifications to broaden your knowledge," he said. "I also want to be able to show people where my knowledge is through that process, and I think that's the best way, to be certified through the USTA."

Now coaching in the John McEnroe Tennis Academy's high-performance program, Mendez hopes to pass along more than his technical expertise. He wants his students to develop the same curiosity, determination and belief in themselves that have helped him build a career in tennis.

For someone who grew up in Puerto Rico, far from the sport's biggest professional stages, that message carries particular significance.

"If someone from a small town from Puerto Rico, where nobody cares about tennis, where we don't have huge stars, can achieve this in tennis, I want people to see that they can achieve goals like this, too," he said.

"I want the kids that I coach to have that type of mentality. Sometimes we limit ourselves. Even if they don't make it as a professional tennis player, they will make it in whatever they propose when they grow up and say 'I want to be a lawyer,' or 'I want to be president.'"

Follow Dimas Mendez on Instagram @thewanderingstringercoach.