“My dad especially, a perfectionist kinda” Aleksander Kovacevic once said of his father Milan. The American tennis player, due to face Frances Tiafoe in the first round of the US Open, started his tennis journey at five! And the credit goes to his father, who himself has a storied past with the sport. While Milan regrets “not starting earlier,” his now 25-year-old son began to “separate himself from the rest of the pack” during his youth. Thus began the father-duo professional association.

The former World No. 75 turned pro in 2021, the same year where he made his grand slam(US Open) debut. Regarding sport, Kovacevic turns to his father, who hails from Serbia and got married to Milanka at 21. Both his parents had interests in table tennis but later switched to tennis after they migrated to the US, where Aleks was born. Milan’s passion gradually drifted from playing tennis to learning software engineering at UCLA. 

Soon, Kovacevic’s father, who eventually worked at Columbia University, trained his little son, who once drew inspiration from Novak Djokovic’s US Open battle (2005). Thus began the duo’s collaboration, with Milan naturally transitioning into a coaching role. “My parents were very technical in everything they did.. So, growing up when I was young and developing my skills, he [Milan] made sure everything was kind of right and perfect before I shaped my game to where I am at today,” said Aleksander to fightingillini.com.

Although Kovacevic took the United Tennis Association coaches’ training early on, apart from the University of Illinois (where Brad Dancer coached him), Kovacevic relied on his father, who still remains his coach, to perfect his skills. Talking about his potential, Milan stated, “It took time until his results caught up with his potential.”

Fast forward to today, Aleksander Kovacevic had his career’s best results in August 2024 after playing in the Citi Open in Washington, where he reached the round of 16. Nevertheless, the American player has a long way to go, and his father might have envisioned it quite early, as he revealed why he made his son take up tennis at an early age.

Aleksander Kovacevic’s father states how he fulfilled his dream through his son

“We [his wife, Milanka] would go to Central Park to play tennis and bring people with us,” Aleksander Kovacevic’s father said in an interview. Kovacevic played table tennis throughout his childhood and early adulthood, but after coming to the US, he traded his racquet for a computer monitor and presently works as a software engineer. Describing his reason for it, he elaborated on how the sport is more popular in European countries than in the US.

Leaving the sport with a tinge of regret, he said, “I always regret not starting earlier. So I made them start at five in tennis because I thought that was a mistake on me not starting earlier.” Although not with the same sport, his son is fulfilling his father’s dream along with his own and is carving his own path along the way. And as he embarks on his journey to his favorite tournament, hopefully, we will see him shine again!