Gabriel Diallo remembers when he began to miss more school to practise tennis and compete in tournaments aged 10. His parents sat him down to explain why he was in a different situation than his friends and classmates.
“They asked me how I felt about it. I thought about it, and I didn’t see it as a sacrifice, because I really enjoyed it,” Diallo told ATPTour.com. “I enjoyed practising and I enjoyed playing.”
From a young age, Diallo dreamt of becoming a professional tennis player. “I always wanted to win Slams. Every kid goes through that phase,” he said.
It was around this time when Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in an unforgettable five-hour, 53-minute Australian Open final in 2012.
“I remember I was trying to play like him and imitate his sliding and just moving and just not missing the ball,” Diallo recalled. “Me and my friends at the time, we were trying to recreate that match, actually.”
Although Diallo has not yet reached that level, he…