This article first appeared in the August/September 2026 issue of Australian Tennis Magazine. To order your copy, visit tennismag.com.au.
From chance encounters to family tradition, the paths that led some of tennis’ biggest stars to the sport may surprise you. Here are 10 fascinating origin stories from some of our top players…
By chance: Aryna Sabalenka
Fate is a fickle thing. One moment in time can be enough to change someone’s destiny completely. Such was the case for Aryna Sabalenka, who didn’t grow up around professional tennis or famous tournaments. At six, she and her father, former ice hockey player Sergey, happened to drive past a court in Minsk, Belarus. He suggested they stop for a hit and the rest is history. Sabalenka has since become a dominant world No.1 and four-time Grand Slam champion.
A shift in focus: Ben Shelton
For power server Ben Shelton, tennis wasn’t always top priority. While the sport was always in the background thanks to his father, former pro and Georgia Tech University coach Brian Shelton, a young Shelton was more focused on American football. It wasn’t until age 12 that Shelton decided he could experience more longevity in tennis, so turned his focus to the sport, with his father acting as coach. While competing at college level at the University of Florida, Shelton also focused on his education and only made his first overseas trip at age 19 in 2022. Since graduating, Shelton has attributed his mental game and on-court clarity to his college education.
Close to the action: Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik
Environment can play a significant role in shaping young athletes. Take 19-year-old powerhouse Joao Fonseca for instance. Since early 2025, the Brazilian rocketed from world No.145 to No.24, beating the likes of Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud along the way. Growing up 10 minutes from the Rio Open and next door to the Rio de Janeiro Country Club meant elite tennis was always close. Watching Nadal take home the title in 2014 convinced Fonseca, who had been playing tennis since age four, he wanted to become a professional too.
Jakub Mensik was destined to make the sport a big part of his life. His family wasn’t especially sporty, but tennis courts sat just outside their home in Prostejov and watching local players sparked his curiosity at age five. “I just came to my dad or my mum and asked them if I can play also ... they always wanted me to do some sports. That’s how I started,” he told atptour.com.
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Idol inspiration: Madison Keys and Valentin Royer
It’s no secret that following in the footsteps of the greats is a popular pathway into tennis. Legendary figures from Roger Federer to Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams have influenced many of the top-ranked players of today. For Madison Keys, it was Venus Williams who shone the light on the sport – but not for reasons you might expect.
It wasn’t Williams’ Grand Slam titles, explosive serve or athleticism that caught Keys’ attention as a four-year-old. It was the outfit. At Wimbledon in 1999, Williams wore a white Reebok dress. Watching on TV, Keys wanted one too. Her mother agreed – with one condition: first, she had to play tennis and Keys was happy to comply.
Frenchman Valentin Royer’s tennis journey began as a three-year-old. Watching Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros on TV with his father, Royer immediately asked his parents for a tennis racquet, eager to play for himself.
Helpful hobbies: Jelena Ostapenko
Ballroom dancing gave Jelena Ostapenko an unexpected edge. The Latvian discovered tennis when she was five years old, the same age she was introduced to the world of ballroom dancing. She went on to compete in Latvia’s national ballroom dance championships. The skills and fancy footwork Ostapenko developed in her youth have come in handy in her career. She still credits years on the dance floor for the footwork that became one of her greatest strengths on court.
Sport as a gateway: Jannik Sinner and Flavio Cobolli
For some players, a career in tennis was not the original plan. Before world No.1 Jannik Sinner rose to the top of the ranks, the Italian – who grew up in a town near the Dolomites in Northern Italy – was a prolific skier. Sinner was already tackling the slopes as a three-year-old, competing in his first competition at age eight. He was seven when he first stepped onto a tennis court, and it wasn’t until age 13 that he gave up skiing to pursue the sport full time.
Before becoming a top-10 player, Flavio Cobolli trained in the youth academy of the famous AS Roma football team. The Italian eventually chose to follow in his father’s footsteps, former pro Stefano Cobolli, turning his focus completely to tennis at age 14.
Seized opportunity: Frances Tiafoe
After Frances Tiafoe’s parents emigrated from Sierra Leone to the United States in the 1990s, his father worked as a day labourer while Maryland’s Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) was being built. When he later became the centre’s custodian, Frances Sr was allowed to live on site with his twin sons, Frances and Franklin, while the boys’ mother worked night shifts as a nurse. The courts became Frances’ backyard – and ultimately the launchpad for his career. Spending so much time at the facility allowed Tiafoe and his brother to play from the age of four before Frances officially began training at the centre. At eight, he was paired with coach Misha Kouznetsov, whose guidance helped set him on the path to becoming a professional.
Pure passion: Andrey Rublev
Often times, the drive behind a player's tennis journey simply boils down to a love of the sport. For Andrey Rublev, this love affair began when he was just three years old. His mother, Marina, was a tennis coach, and from the moment she brought Rublev to the courts as a toddler he was hooked. So much so that he has revealed in the past that he used to sleep with his racquet, and it was a mammoth task for his parents to drag him home from the courts, as he would often (and happily) practise from 9am to 10pm by the time he was 10 years old. “I just fell in love,” he commented at AO 2024. “It was really tough to take me home from the courts.”
From humble beginnings: Ons Jabeur
Born and raised in Tunisia, former world No.2 Ons Jabeur had no homegrown tennis heroes. Her mother, who played tennis recreationally, introduced her to the sport when Jabeur was just three years old. With a splintered wooden racquet in hand, Jabeur trained between age four to 13 on temporary courts at nearby hotels, as her own club didn’t have its own tennis court. When she was 12, the decision was made to pursue tennis at a higher level, so Jabeur moved to the capital, Tunis, to train. Twice a Grand Slam finalist, she is now the most successful Tunisian and Arab woman in WTA history.
Family footsteps: Cruz Hewitt
For many young players, inspiration starts at home. Watching a parent succeed in tennis can be all it takes to spark a lifelong passion. Growing up while his father Lleyton Hewitt competed on tour, Cruz Hewitt was immersed in tennis from an early age. He first began playing tennis in The Bahamas and when the family returned to Australia, Hewitt started training with elite coaches at the KDV Tennis Academy to pursue his own professional career.
Other players who have followed a parent into tennis include Sebastian Korda (whose father, Petr, claimed the AO 1998 title), Casper Ruud (son of Christian, now his coach) as well as Taylor Fritz and Maria Sakkari, whose mothers each competed on tour.
