The Journey to Success

"SPORT HAS BEEN WITH ME SINCE MY BIRTH AND WILL ACCOMPANY ME THROUGHOUT MY LIFE."

My Tennis Achievements

My tennis career began in 2005, four years after a car accident which led me to the decision to start playing sports. After meeting various people, we chose tennis because I was looking for a sport that would actually physically exhaust me. There are three categories to this sport: men, women, and players with severe disabilities. The rules are the same as for able-bodied players, including the court dimensions, balls, and rackets. The only difference is that the ball can bounce twice. As for funding, able-bodied players make a living from the sport, whereas we, without sponsors, face greater challenges.

In the men's category, I competed against physically superior players who are able to move without assistance and only sit in a wheelchair for matches. This is a significant disadvantage, but I didn't give up and I found myself travelling all around the world. I made it to the national team and became the Slovak singles champion twice and the doubles champion four times before the competition was discontinued. I visited countries like South Africa, South America, the USA, Australia, Turkey, Portugal, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Poland, South Korea, Japan, and many others. By 2022, I had won about 190 trophies, which are awarded for singles and doubles finals, meaning I had played many many matches.

In 2022, after the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Tennis Federation decided to reclassify all players based on their disabilities, and I was approved to move into the third group for players with more severe impairments, where I should have been long ago. I achieved milestones that no one else ever had. I was the first Slovak to play in Grand Slam tournaments, namely the US Open 2023 and the Australian Open 2024. In the world rankings, I reached 11th place in singles and 8th in doubles. At the 2023 European Championships, I finished fourth, allowing me to gain 40 trophies by the end of 2025. Overall, I have won around 230 trophies in my whole career.
I also play against tennis opponents who are half my age, which presents an additional physical handicap for me. Even though I found myself on my deathbed, I proved that if you want something, you can achieve anything. Before the car accident, I had never played tennis, and afterwards, I couldn't move my right arm at all, but now, despite some impairment, I play tennis with my right hand.

 

In 2024, I was selected as the face for the Summer Paralympic Games in Paris, and a video clip was made with me, which serves as the anthem for this significant event.