Tennis might be a global sport, one that everyone loves. But it’s not easy to pursue a full-time career in it, especially for those who have a financial constraint in their family. While stories are rife in the sports world about parents sacrificing a lot financially for their children’s dreams, tennis especially requires an awful lot of money. Yet, several tennis players have come from a humble background and made a big name for themselves such as Serena Williams. Here’s looking into the lives of 5 such players:
Serena Williams and Venus Williams
Fans of the movie King Richard would know what Serena Williams and Venus Williams’ father Richard Williams did to ensure that his daughters get the required exposure. While preparing his daughters for success was hard enough, Richard Williams also had financial hardships. He worked as a security guard in Compton, California, and his wife Brandy Williams was a nurse. He juggled his full-time work with training his daughters, which took up all of his time and effort.
Facing racism didn’t exactly help Williams’ cause. But he was adamant about making his daughters big, and he succeeded at that in time.
Danielle Collins
In the middle of her retirement season, Danielle Collins has managed to win two back-to-back WTA titles – The Miami Open and The Charleston Open. It was one heck of a comeback journey for Collins from once facing hardships like rheumatoid arthritis and endometriosis. Moreover, she comes from a humble background.
She grew up in a lower-middle-class family, and like every middle-class family around the world, her’s too invested in this idea of saving money. It is there that she learned the true value of money. She also recently opened up in an interview with Tennis Channel about how Serena and Venus Williams have been her idols since they paved the way for anyone from any background to make it in this sport.
Danielle Collins says Serena & Venus Williams taught all of us that it doesn’t matter where you come from or how much money your parents have, anything is possible:
“Serena has been very supportive on social media.
Danielle: “Growing up, Serena was my idol. I think the… pic.twitter.com/zXG69V9QfT
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) April 7, 2024
Iga Swiatek
It is quite a remarkable story to come from a humble background and become the world’s best tennis player. That is what Polish player Iga Swiatek has managed to do. Her father Tomasz Swiatek once opened up about the financial hardships he’s had over the year, that almost prevented his daughter Iga Swiatek from pursuing tennis.
The conditions were so bad at one point that he told his young daughter to give up on tennis. Divorcing from her mother on top of that didn’t help his financial cause. However, given Swiatek’s talent, Tomasz found a way to somehow support her and live by.
Frances Tiafoe
As if the story of the Williams sisters making it big in tennis wasn’t warm enough, another African-American tennis player has a rags-to-riches story of his own. Frances Tiafoe once shared the delight of being in the Fitzerald Tennis Stadium as a kid and watching athletes compete against each other.
He said that after his win against the Russian player Arslan Karatsev in the 2023 Citi Open. While mentioning it, he also revealed that he had to make do with worn-out clothes and had visible shoe holes. This highlights his humble background, where his parents only ever dreamed of watching their son play professional tennis. Tiafoe fulfilled their dreams.
Jannik Sinner
The tennis player who had lit up the 2024 season also didn’t exactly come from a well-off family. The Italian player Jannik Sinner is on a roll, winning the Australian Open, ATP Rotterdam, and the Miami Open most recently. His parents were from a humble background and didn’t have any fancy jobs while he was growing up.
Sinner’s father was a chef and his mother was a waitress at a ski lodge. Despite limited financial resources, Sinner’s father pushed him towards tennis. With time he developed his skills, and today is the World’s No. 2 player.
