Mark Lajal
August 18, 2023
“I come from a motorsport family, which I think is the funniest part of my story. My dad used to be a motocross racer, and my grandpa used to be a rally driver. So tennis was never really in my family. I started racing motorcycles when I was three years old, and grew up racing. At around six, my dad had a dream of going on a road trip from Tallinn to Vladivostok. During this time, my mom put me in a tennis program. For a couple years I did both racing and tennis, and eventually chose tennis over racing. I vividly remember my first practice and the way I hit my forehead. I used to get so excited about making the ball spin. I guess I just always loved tennis for the sport it is – it stuck with from the beginning. And since I started, I wanted to play professionally. I don’t remember saying, but my mom remembers me telling her when I was seven or eight that I was going to win the US Open. I’ve always had that dream. Coming from Estonia, such a small country, it hasn’t been easy because we don’t have many tournaments.
“I come from a motorsport family, which I think is the funniest part of my story. My dad used to be a motocross racer, and my grandpa used to be a rally driver. So tennis was never really in my family. I started racing motorcycles when I was three years old, and grew up racing. At around six, my dad had a dream of going on a road trip from Tallinn to Vladivostok. During this time, my mom put me in a tennis program. For a couple years I did both racing and tennis, and eventually chose tennis over racing. I vividly remember my first practice and the way I hit my forehead. I used to get so excited about making the ball spin. I guess I just always loved tennis for the sport it is – it stuck with from the beginning. And since I started, I wanted to play professionally. I don’t remember saying, but my mom remembers me telling her when I was seven or eight that I was going to win the US Open. I’ve always had that dream. Coming from Estonia, such a small country, it hasn’t been easy because we don’t have many tournaments.