No, like I said, my dad was never really part of the tennis. His involvement around what I did with the tennis and with my mom and my grandparents was really not a part of my life.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Nobody actually played tennis in my family.
As a child, I was lucky to have the support of my parents because starting a tennis career is a very expensive adventure.
My father had never watched tennis, never liked tennis too much. He said, 'OK, we buy a racket, we watch together,' because we didn't know anything. It was a process of learning together that made it more interesting.
I was being groomed to be a tennis player for sure. My grandparents and parents realised I had a natural athletic ability and if I was forced to do it, I could probably do well. But all I wanted was to play pretend.
I've been athletic since I was a kid. My parents got me playing tennis when I was seven years old and I started to play competitively.
When I was eight and a half, my parents moved to a part of Queens where there was a club nearby. We joined, and if you believe in someone up above, I think I was meant to play tennis.
Tennis is what I do and is part of who I am.
You know my dad pushed me to believe that I was going to be the best. I just never thought of life without tennis, even looking forward.
One day my dad would say, 'OK, if you want to play tennis I can help you out.' And that's how it started. And I had a goal. I wanted to beat my mom first. And my parents and my brother. And that was the ultimate goal.
So, yeah, Dad was right. Tennis was the way to go.