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Brazilian youngster Thiago Seyboth Wild says the advise that countryman Gustavo Kuerten gave him as a youngster has had a major impact on him. Kuerten is also from Brazil and is a former World No. 1 and three-time winner of the French Open.
Speaking to the Tennis Now website, the 20 year old Seyboth Wild says, “He always talked so much about how intense I should play, about how I should focus on my level and let the ranking be a consequence of how I’m playing, how the results are going.
I’d say yes he’s an inspiration for me just like he is for most of the players out there. He was No.1. He beat Agassi and Sampras in the same tournament, like who really does that?” The Brazilian says his goal is to become World No.
1 in the future. “A lot of people have already asked me about being No.1 or winning Grand Slams. I’d go with being No.1 because to be No.1 you have to win a Grand Slam at least..”.
“I’d say that as a kid I’ve always thought that I could beat anybody, that I could be the best, that I could win the tournament, doesn’t really matter where I was, and it’s something I have taken with me to today”.
Earlier this year, prior to the tennis shutdown, Wild won the ATP title in Santiago prior to the shutdown. Soon after, he became one of the first professional tennis players to test positive for the coronavirus He says he has now recovered completely and cannot wait to get back on the circuit.
“I’ve been trying to practice almost every day and give myself as much activity as possible. You know I’ve been trying to live a normal life but there is nothing normal about it these days."