Jaime Faria’s childhood art was in a museum… now he’s a professional tennis player | ATP Tour

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Faria’s childhood art was in a museum… now he’s a professional tennis player

The 21-year-old discusses ‘rookie’ hair and the Challenger climb

October 28, 2024

Jaime Faria may be the only player on the ATP Challenger Tour who can claim that his artwork has appeared in a museum.

Faria’s father, Nuno, works as an art history professor and museum curator. When Faria and his younger brother Vicente were children, they would spend hours in museums, listening to Nuno explain the various pieces on display.

When a family friend curated an exhibition at a gallery in Lisbon, he showed Jaime and Vicente’s work.

“We’re not musicians, but we’re not there yet and we didn’t know it,” said Faria with a laugh while talking to ATPTour.com. “We drew pictures and actually – my dad found some of those things that we displayed in the museum and we really enjoyed it.

“We spent a lot of time in museums, being quiet, listening, watching. We were playing, sometimes doing nothing or things we shouldn’t be doing.”

Art has not completely left the 21-year-old Faria. She recently sported a cute haircut, with a bold zig-zag design. Although that style was not optional. Instead, it was Faria paying his dues as part of a Portuguese Davis Cup tradition that requires rookies to sport a haircut chosen by their teammates during the training week.

“They can do whatever they want, whenever they want with my hair,” said Faria. “It’s part of the culture and I don’t want to be a guy who isn’t part of the culture… We have a good relationship with the Portuguese players.”

Gastao Elias worked as a barber and was assisted by Henrique Rocha and Nuno Borges. However, the club’s house rules state that when a rookie competes – as Faria did in a tie against Norway last month – the unusual haircut is completely shaved off. “When you go to the game, you’re completely bald,” Faria said.

This eye-catching drawing made social media and attracted fans. Faria has also made headlines by having great success on the ATP Challenger Tour this season. He took his second Challenger title of the season last week in Curitiba, Brazil.

Jaime Faria wins ATP Challenger Tour 100 event in Curitiba, Brazil.” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2024/10 /28 /21/00/faria-curitibach-2024-trophy.jpg”>
^{Jaime Faria wins the ATP Challenger Tour 100 event in Curitiba, Brazil. Credit: João Pires}

Faria’s first title came in May in his home country of Oeiras, where his family sat on the sidelines as he lifted the trophy.

It was a full-circle, historic moment on Portuguese shores for Faria, who played soccer and tennis as a child and began training at the Federation at 16. He remembers playing tennis for the first time after attending an exhibition in Algarve, Portugal that featured legends like these. John McEnroe, Marcelo Rios and Mats Wilander.

“My father bought tickets for that, but we weren’t old enough to go, so they put us in the children’s area, but we really didn’t want to go there as children. We asked to watch the games and we sat for days and days watching them,” said Faria. “We just started, I asked to play tennis, I really enjoyed that.”

Faria is not the only young Portuguese star to shine brightly on the Challenger circuit. #NextGenATP 20-year-old Rocha also won his first title at this level this season. Faria and Rocha live together and work with the same coaches at the Portuguese Tennis Federation: Pedro Sousa and Neuza Silva.

After his title in Brazil, Faria has moved up to a career high of 120 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Rocha is World number 179.

“He is my best friend. We have known each other since we were very young,” said Faria about Rocha. “You definitely have something to motivate you to see a guy you work with who can do it, you know you can do it.”

Fortunately, both Faria and Rocha have already made a ritual of cutting their hair, marking their transition from ‘rookies’ to the next group of ATP Tour stars from Portugal.