Ben Shelton A young player who has made great strides under the leadership of his father, former professional Brian Shelton, he only wanted to test himself against his father.
However, his father was not that enthusiastic.
“My dad didn’t let me play him,” Shelton told ESPN. Enlarged in an on-court interview held at the Australian Open earlier this year, he added:
In sports where more and more players are former players’ children, beating parents is like a rite of passage. But not everyone gets a chance — and some don’t even want to beat their mothers or dads.
Danish Casperrood is the son of Christian Rood, a former top 40 player who reached three major finals and ranked two supercompetitors. Rude disputes how old Casper was when the torch passed between the two.
“I tend to say I’m 15. He can’t agree because you were 17,” Rude told ESPN. “I even say I was 14, but that wasn’t regular. Like 15, 16. I beat him at 14.”
In fact, when he played some matches with Rude at age 14, his father added money to the bargain.
“The bet was, if my dad beat me 6-0 and 6-1, I was borrowing him $20. 6-2 and all games over 6-2 were $10 per game for me. I remember he beat me again, but from 15, 16 I really started winning.
When he began to win, there was no guilt. “His curve was like this (down), my curve was going this way (above). So at some point we crossed the road and physically he wasn’t where he was a player. So I think it was just a matter of time.”
Maria Saccari is one of the few female athletes with professional tennis play parents. Sacchira, daughter of former top 40 player Angeliki Canelo Pru, recalls her playing games and tie breaks when she was very young.
“We remember training together in the summer,” Saccari told ESPN at Wimbledon. “She was still playing. Then at some point she had a broken knee and she stopped playing. It was a pretty bad injury.”
For Sakkari, the fact that her mother could understand what she had experienced was more important than beating her.
“She really enjoys the fact that I’ve gotten better than her and I think we’ve had a bit of a chance to train together in the past,” Sakkari said. “But it’s also very important that she keeps her mother’s role more. She gives me advice, and that’s it, and that’s great.
Canada’s Dennis Shapovalov was coached by his mother, Tessa Shapovalov, for many years. Shapovalova played for the Soviet Union national team before becoming a coach, and Shapovalova said they never actually played a match against each other.
“We did some point situations and things like that, especially when I was much younger,” Shapovalov told ESPN at Wimbledon. “I’m a little kid and there are some YouTube videos where I was playing against her. She was tapping the ball on me. It was fun playing against her, but we never played a set or anything like that.
Cebu Korda, son of former Australian Open Champion Petr Korda and former top 30 player himself Regina Rajcultois, are still waiting for their first victory.
“I’ve never beat either of them,” the American said. “That’s the problem. I think the last time I played my dad I was 13. He bageled me or double vegeled me. I’ve never played it again. I don’t think we want to play now, but I don’t want to play him.
Jack Draper’s father, Roger Draper, never made it professionally, but he was a decent player and later became CEO of the Lawn Tennis Association, the governing body of England. “Perhaps I was only able to beat my father until around 12 or 13,” said Draper, the world’s fourth largest. “It was a little later for my siblings.”
Even when he is trying to defeat his father, Draper said the benefits of being in a sports environment are more important.
“I have a brother who beats you all the time,” he said. “Whether it’s ping pong or tennis, it really builds that competitor in you until you beat them. For example, my brother, I think I played him once, and he beats me. He always has it on me.”
Taylor Fritz’s mother, Kathy May, was ranked in the top ten in the world at one stage. For the younger Fritz, beating his mother was a big deal, but not as big as when he handed her out in the rankings.
“I think I can start beating my mother at 14,” Fritz said. “He’s quite old so I managed to beat my dad. I think it was (more) big deal to beat her career best rankings and say I’m the best player in my family.”