We asked you to send in your questions for world No 9 Janko Tipsarevic and The Tennis Space sat down with him in Indian Wells to answer them. Here is the second of two parts.
Hello from Bulgaria! Which of the young players do you think has the brightest future and what do you think about Grigor Dimitrov? Did you think The Balkans need their big event in the ATP tour, so we can develop tennis here much more… and what do you think about the talent we’ve got here?
Grigor Dimitrov is a player who in my opinion hasn’t yet reached the full extent of his potential. I think there is more to him than he’s currently showing, even though he’s ranked 30 in the world at the age of 22. He’s still very, very young. The borderline age in tennis has moved. The average age in the top 100 is 27-something so it’s different than a few years before and way tougher for us to see like a 20-year-old grand slam winner or something. I don’t know if you count Milos Raonic as young, if you do, I would say he and Bernard Tomic have the brightest futures.
I’m Kavin from India. I’m presently 18 years old and I’ve been playing tennis for one year. My coach told me that I’ve improved very fast in such a short period. I want to know whether I can become a professional in tennis considering my age, or if I should not be trying to break a rock with my bare head. Should I quit college and go full-time or carry on my degree and play as much as I can?
If you started playing tennis one year ago, I would say you should try to use the most from this sport and get the education, if that’s possible. Most of the guys on tour right now started playing tennis when they were five or so. It’s a little bit too late to become a professional tennis player but it’s never too late to stay involved in the sport, get your degree in college and who knows, one day maybe be a professional tennis coach.
Novak has said that the turning point for him in order to become a stronger player came right after his loss to Juergen Melzer in the 2010 French Open. Is there a particular match or a particular moment, on court, that had the same effect on you?
If we talk about matches which made me stronger I would say the match I played against Fernando Verdasco two years ago at the Australian Open was probably the toughest loss that I had in my professional career, having three match points and chances, volleys and overheads and everything. But I think it was the determination I had before I started the year. I remember I lost the match, I was devastated, I stayed in my room all in the dark, and I called my brother and I said, no matter, I still feel this is going to be my year. Then I went to Johannesburg, flying like 35 hours to get there, playing really well in practice and losing first round to a wildcard, with five match points, 7-6 in the third. Again, I called my brother and I said, it doesn’t matter, I feel this is going to be my year. These two matches made me stronger and made me realise that the change doesn’t overcome night. It’s not enough that you wish it, you make a good pre-season and then suddenly doors start to open. It made me realise that I still needed to continue working and it will come. I’m going to quote Rocky Balboa now – in life and career it’s not about how hard you can get hit, it’s about how many times you can get hit and get up and find the fighting life again.
I’ve always admired your love and pride for your country, it’s really amazing to see the spirit and commitment you have when you represent Serbia not only during Davis Cup but every day. Do you think that kind of feeling comes naturally or can it be learnt? I, as you, am from a country with a complicated political scene (both past and present), which sometimes has made me regret where I’m from, I long for a day where I can feel about my country, the way you feel about Serbia. Could you give me an advice about that?
You either love your country or you don’t. Even though Serbia was in a tough position when I was growing up and as a country they didn’t have a lot to offer me. I really love my country but the thing that is even more important for me is this team spirit with my team-mates. I can promise you that I would not perform for Serbia as well as I have performed in the past couple of years if I didn’t have a great bunch of guys being my team-mates. If we didn’t get on, if we fought over time or didn’t like each other, I promise you that this would affect my fire and will to win on the court. Love and patriotism for the country is one thing but the other side is great team spirit which we have between us.
