Doubles specialist Maytin struck with testicular cancer

A 30-year-old tennis player, in the prime of his life, has been hit with a cancer diagnosis.

And so friends and family of Roberto Maytin, a Venezuelan currently ranked No. 136 in doubles who has faithfully represented his country in Davis Cup since 2007, are reaching out for help.

Maytin’s brother Ricardo has set up a Go Fund me to help defray some of Roberto’s expenses.

Maytin will need four rounds of “aggressive chemotherapy” treatments to combat non seminoma testicular cancer – the type of testicular cancer that hits younger men, and whose tumors tend to grow and spread more quickly.

Ricardo Maytin said the cancer “had been moving for months”.

Earnings of less than $20K in 2019

The life of a journeyman doubles player is not a lucrative one. Maytin starred at Baylor University before heading out on the pro tour. He broke into the top 100 in the doubles ranking during the spring of 2015.

But a year later, after two years of playing in pain, he had right elbow surgery and had to build his ranking back up from nothing again.

In 2019, Maytin played 27 tournaments, plus Davis Cup.

Only one was at the ATP level – at Delray Beach, near his Miami home.

He won the Tiburon Challenger in September, where prize money was $108,000 in total. That earned him … $3,100.

Early in the season, he won Challengers on the U.S. spring Har-Tru circuit in Tallahassee and Savannah, and on hard court in Columbus in June. Each of those titles brought him … $1,550.

It’s hard to know if he has insurance to cover the costs of the treatment. He might.

But beyond the fact that it’s impossible to put any money aside at that level, if Maytin can’t play – and even the best-case scenario won’t have him competing in 2020 – he can’t earn anything.

So if his story touches you, help a brother out.