Tennis is one of the most globally popular sports in the world. But at the same time, it is one of the hardest sports to take up professionally, both finance and competition-wise, to break into and sustain being a top-level player for long. Considering all of that, it is hard to believe that these world-renowned tennis players, some of the best in the world such as Novak Djokovic, almost did not pursue tennis seriously when they started.
Novak Djokovic wanted to be a skier
Skiing is huge in the mountainous nations of Europe, like in Serbia. At the border of Serbia and Kosovo, lies a ski resort named Kapaonik. Djokovic’s parents Srdjan and Dijana ran several small businesses in this ski resort town. Therefore, Novak Djokovic grew up sliding down the slopes of these hills on a ski, rather than with a tennis racquet in his hand.
Novak Djokovic could’ve become a skier, but instead chose tennis after his parents gave him a mini-racquet at age 4. It became his favorite thing in the world from then on forever.
Jannik Sinner also loves skiing till date
Jannik Sinner is from Italy, more specifically the snowy region of Innichen, South Tyrol in northern Italy. Such is the level of snowfall in the municipality and village, that it hosts a Snow Sculpture Festival each year. It also creates an amazing skiing environment, an activity actively pursued by a young Jannik Sinner growing up.
Since his mother was a waitress at a ski lodge, Sinner began skiing at a very young age. He even won a giant slalom national championship at the age of 12 and became Italy’s top junior skier. Sinner also loved playing soccer, as most Italians do in the country.
Tennis was probably his 3rd option. However, seeing his talent, Sinner’s father pushed him towards tennis, even after the youngster had given up on it for a year. Today, he is a Grand Slam winner i.e. Australian Open 2024, and a Miami Open champion.
Roger Federer wanted to play soccer for Switzerland
Sports was a big thing in Roger Federer’s life from a very young age. The Swiss legend grew up playing many sports like badminton, basketball, soccer, and then tennis. He was smitten by the latter two, especially soccer for how much he loved it.
However, playing all these sports gave him great hand-eye coordination that helped him in tennis. He continued playing both tennis and soccer, and at age 12 he became a junior champion in tennis. This gave him a clear indication to go ahead with tennis and leave soccer behind.
Rafael Nadal too wanted to pursue soccer
While it is hard to imagine Rafael Nadal picking any other sport besides tennis today, especially given that he was coached by his family member (Toni Nadal), the Spaniard did want to be a soccer player. Nadal’s other uncle Miguel Angel Nadal was a soccer player, who played as a defender and midfielder for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team.
Rafa’s idol was Brazilian striker and 2002 FIFA World Cup winner Ronaldo, and he even met him once at Camp Nou in Barcelona. Rafael Nadal dreamt of playing soccer but ended up joining the Manacor Tennis Club at a young age, with his uncle as the coach. Today, he is a 22-time Grand Slam winner.
Rohan Bopanna moved away from hockey and soccer to become a tennis player
Rohan Bopanna made history earlier this year at the Australian Open by becoming the oldest player to win a Grand Slam doubles competition. Bopanna and Matthew Ebden beat Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-6 (7-0), 7-5 in the finals. Yet, despite such stellar performances, it is shocking to learn that Rohan Bopanna once wanted to become either a hockey player or a soccer player. Before age 11, he tried his hands at both those sports, before realizing that he is more suited for tennis.
Bopanna was born in the ‘Silicon Valley of India’, Bengaluru but is from the Coorgi community, which has produced a lot of hockey players. Bopanna was very likely headed that way. His dad was an avid tennis fan, and he built a tennis court with 7 of his friends in Coorg. That slowly kickstarted Bopanna’s journey in the sport.
