Jaime Faria’s childhood artwork was in a museum… now he is an expert tennis participant | ATP Tour

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Faria’s childhood artwork was in a museum… now he is an expert tennis participant

The 21-year-old discusses ‘rookie’ haircut and Challenger rise

October 28, 2024

Jaime Faria is perhaps the one participant on the ATP Challenger Tour who can say that his art work has appeared in a museum.

Faria’s father, Nuno, works as a historical past of artwork professor and museum curator. When Faria and his youthful brother Vicente have been youngsters, they’d spend numerous hours at museums, listening to Nuno clarify the varied items displayed.

When a household good friend directed an exposition in a Lisbon gallery, he featured work from Jaime and Vicente.

“We’re not artists, however earlier than we have been and we didn’t know,” Faria stated with fun when chatting with ATPTour.com. “We drew some work and really — my father acquired a few of these issues that we did uncovered in a museum and we actually loved it.

“We spent quite a lot of time within the museums, being quiet, listening, watching. We’d mess around, typically simply doing nothing or issues we weren’t purported to do.”

Artwork has not fully left the 21-year-old Faria. He lately sported a playful haircut, that includes a daring zig-zag design. Although that type was not by alternative. Relatively, it was Faria paying his dues as a part of a Portuguese Davis Cup custom which requires rookies to sport a haircut chosen by teammates throughout coaching week.

“They will do no matter they need, each time they need with my hair,” Faria stated. “It’s a part of the custom and I don’t wish to be the man who isn’t a part of the custom… We actually have a very good bond with the Portuguese gamers.”

Gastao Elias served because the barber and was assisted by Henrique Rocha and Nuno Borges. Nonetheless, the group’s home guidelines state that if the rookie competes — like Faria did within the tie towards Norway final month — the unconventional haircut is totally shaved. “In the event you go to the match, you might be completely bald,” stated Faria.

The attention-catching design made its rounds on social media and drew laughs from followers. Faria has additionally made information by having nice success on the ATP Challenger Tour this season. He captured his second Challenger title of the season final week in Curitiba, Brazil. 

Jaime Faria wins the ATP Challenger Tour 100 occasion in Curitiba, Brazil. Credit score: João Pires

Faria’s first title got here in Could on house soil in Oeiras, the place his household sat courtside as he lifted the trophy.

It was a full circle, milestone second on the Portuguese coast for Faria, who performed soccer and tennis as a toddler and began coaching on the Federation aged 16. He remembers first taking part in tennis after attending an exhibition in Algarve, Portugal that featured legends akin to John McEnroe, Marcelo Rios and Mats Wilander.

“My father purchased tickets to that, however we weren’t sufficiently old to go, in order that they put us within the youngsters place, however we didn’t actually wish to go to the youngsters place. We requested to look at the matches and we stayed there days and days watching them,” Faria stated. “We simply began, I requested to play tennis, actually loved it from that.”

Faria is just not the one Portuguese younger star shining vibrant on the Challenger circuit. The #NextGenATP 20-year-old Rocha additionally claimed his first title at that stage this season. Faria and Rocha dwell collectively and work with the identical coaches on the Portuguese Tennis Federation: Pedro Sousa and Neuza Silva.

Following his title in Brazil, Faria is as much as a career-high No. 120 within the PIF ATP Rankings. Rocha is World No. 179.

“He’s an ideal good friend of mine. We’ve identified one another since actual younger,” Faria stated of Rocha. “In fact you’ve gotten some motivation seeing a man that works with you that may do it, you understand that you are able to do it.”

Fortuitously, each Faria and Rocha have already undergone the standard haircut custom, marking their transition from ‘rookies’ to the following batch of ATP Tour stars hailing from Portugal.