Meet the ITF World Tennis Tour Player Panel: Aldin Setkic
Last month, the ITF announced the players elected to the newly-created ITF World Tennis Tour Player Panel. The members will sit on the Panel until the end of the 2021 season and for two-year terms thereafter.
We spoke to all the players on both the men's tennis and women's tennis panels, to find out about their tennis careers to date and their hopes for what they can achieve during their time as panel members. Over the coming two weeks we will introduce each panel member and hear their stories.
Today we begin with Aldin Setkic, a 32-year-old player from Bosnia and Herzegovina. Setkic has competed at both ATP Challenger and ITF World Tennis Tour level, as well as in qualifying at all four Grand Slam events, and reached a career-high ATP ranking of No. 165. He has also represented his nation in Davis Cup, making his debut in the competition in 2008. Here's what he had to say...
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As a six-year-old, I started playing tennis during the war in Sarajevo. Despite the hardships of the war and under constant shelling, I trained diligently and very quickly became the best among my peers in my country. I regularly won most of the tournaments I played in the country and the region. However, as I come from a small and poor country, I was not lucky enough to have a sponsor, so I was not able to hire professional coaches or travel to all the tournaments I wanted.
From the age of 12 I started to play a few international tournaments and became part of the ITF junior tour. As a junior player at age categories from 12-and-under up to 18-and-under, I won some titles and had some good results.
It was only in 2009, when I was 22 and when I finished my second year at the Faculty of Economics in Sarajevo, that I started playing more than 20 tournaments a year. That year I won my first ITF title, and in my career to date I have won 28 ITF singles and 15 ITF doubles titles. I think I am among the most successful singles players on the ITF tour and I am very proud of that.
From 2013 to 2019, I played in qualifying at more than 20 Grand Slam tournaments and I think that is the most beautiful experience for any player. Here you can see your tennis idols up close – how hard they train and how they are all great friends.
I can't single out any Grand Slam as my favourite, because I have really fond memories of all of them and each one depicts the tradition of the host country. I have also played Davis Cup for my country and I have best memories of some victories against the Top 100 players in the Davis Cup. That team spirit and cheering in Davis Cup matches is a truly unforgettable experience.
I wanted to be a part of ITF players panel because I think that good cooperation between us players and the ITF will be crucial for future tennis development.
Even if this is only the first step, I think the goal of this process should be real involvement of players in important decisions about the tour. As I have played on the ITF and ATP tour fors many years and know most of players, I will try to represent players in the best way.
I am especially committed to help young and upcoming players to give them a better future and give them a better chance to succeed in their tennis careers.
We have seen a lot of changes during the last two years so it’s important that the players’ voice is heard. I think our mission must be to help more players to be able to compete without financial problems on the pro tour, to ensure better player participation in the decisions about the tour, and a fairer distribution of money.