A 17-year-old wildcard made history at this week's Almaty Open.
Justin Engel became the first player born in 2007 ever to record a victory on the ATP Tour after beating Coleman Wong.
The German follows in the footsteps of Carlos Alcaraz, joining him as one of the youngest players to win a match on tour. But Engel didn't always want to play tennis, as he was close to turning professional in kickboxing before quitting.
His decision paid off, as he wrote his name in ATP history on Monday. The German received a wildcard into the ATP 250 event in Kazakhstan and made the most of his free spot in the draw, beating Wong 7-5 6-4.
Engel is the third player born in 2007 to compete on the ATP Tour this year and only turned 17 this month. But he became the first of the pack to get a win, needing just an hour and 35 minutes to defeat the world No. 133.
A former world No. 56 in the ITF junior rankings, Engel is the youngest player to win a tour-level match since a 16-year-old Alcaraz won his first professional match at the 2020 Rio Open, where he also received a wildcard.
After his historic triumph, the teenager told the : "This year has already been so good for me and now this, it is incredible.
"At 17, to be able to win a main draw match is the best feeling I can ever have. I am lost for words.
But things will get a lot tougher for the wildcard, as Engel takes on world No. 31 in the second round. Regardless of the result, this week is still a bonus for the German, who came into the tournament with a new career-high ranking of No. 458 after winning four ITF titles.
Explaining how he got a chance to compete in his first ATP 250 event, he continued "We got the message that I got the wildcard.
"I looked at my father and my father looked at me, and we were just like, 'Is this real now?' So it was a little bit of shock but at the same time I was really excited to play and very happy I got this news."
Engel's dad Horst is an important figure in his career. Horst played tennis until he was 17 but returned to the sport in a coaching role, guiding Anca Barna into the top 50 of the WTA rankings.
While his son didn't always want to play tennis and was more interested in combat sport, he now dreams of being the world No. 1.
"So that's why I'm playing tennis now because my father thought, 'Come on, now I have a kid, let's try this again,'" Engel said of his dad's involvement.
"I also did kick boxing, was very good at it. I almost did it professionally but it was too dangerous for my tennis and so I stopped it."
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