Australian Open
Faria vs. Djokovic: From being inspired by McEnroe to playing in front of him
Learn more about the 21-year-old from Portugal
January 15, 2025
Peter Staples/ATP Tour
Jaime Faria in action at the 2025 Australian Open.
By Andrew Eichenholz
When Jaime Faria was five years old, his life changed forever.
The Portuguese’s father took him and his brother to an ATP Champions Tour event in their home country where John McEnroe was among the legends competing.
“Me and my brother and every kid of our age would stay at the kids’ place [at the venue]. The first day, we said, ‘No, no, no, no, we’ve got to go watch the matches. We don’t want this’,” Faria told ATPTour.com. “We wanted to go see the matches, and we would behave ourselves and just be there for hours enjoying the legends playing. And it was amazing. I saw two times the event, and the first one I asked my father to play [tennis]. It just started like that.”
Just more than 15 years later, Faria will walk onto the court inside Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday afternoon to face 10-time Australian Open champion in the biggest match of his life. Who will be commentating the match for American broadcaster ESPN? John McEnroe. Faria was in disbelief thinking about it.
“It’s great because you want to be part of the those big moments and watching and trying to imagine yourself in those moments,” Faria said. “It being you is just amazing.”
The Portuguese was first impressed by Djokovic during the 2011 US Open semi-finals, in which the Serbian saved two match points before rallying past Roger Federer. Djokovic hit a famous forehand return that an eight-year-old Faria marveled at.
What about Djokovic’s game stands out to the rising star?
“I think his backhand, his return, and he’s a pretty complete player,” Faria said. “But the main thing is in the important moments, the key moments, the focus he puts in. It’s different. It’s like he turns a [gear] on that it’s unbeatable. So many times he’s done that.”
It was not always clear Faria would be in this position. Growing up, his father was involved in art and museums, so the family would move from town to town.
“I always had the feeling that I wanted to play tennis, but I never really believed, because I was never the best of my age, not even the top three or four. I only started to beat some better guys when I was 16,” said Faria, who at that age began training under the Portuguese Federation. “The other club that I was at, many guys would play tennis and go to college to study and do that thing. I always had that in my head that I wanted to play and go to college, enjoy that experience, study. Always the studies were in front of tennis. I think at some point, at 16, it changed.
“Later, at 17, 18, I had so many proposals from college and I didn’t have many results, and I really thought of going to college actually. Then the main guy [Rui Machado] just said, ‘Stay with us. You’re going to be good. We believe in you. You believe in us. It’s going to be great. And if you do want this, it’s better for you’. I decided to stay, and that was the moment I decided I’m going to be a tennis player.”
Faria has been rising alongside close friend and 20-year-old Henrique Rocha. Nuno Borges is the highest-ranked Portuguese player at World No. 33, but Faria and Rocha are both closing on the Top 100, and quickly.
“It’s great. We have been together since I was 16, him 15. We lived in the same room in the residence. We practise together all the time,” Faria said. “Already six years, we know each other so well, and we push each other to some good level, and we try our best. We don’t want the other to be much better than the other one. So when one is up, the other goes up. So no doubt, Henrique will come back stronger.”
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Joao Sousa is the highest-ranked Portuguese in PIF ATP Rankings history, having ascended to No. 28 in 2016. The four-time ATP Tour titlist has been happy to see his countrymen shining on the world’s biggest stages.
Faria, a qualifier, did not own a tour-level win before defeating Pavel Kotov in straight sets in the first round of the main draw.
“Definitely, it’s a milestone achieved. I think this is great news for Portuguese tennis. It means Portuguese tennis is improving. Many other came before me that made history for our country. And of course, I feel very privileged to be part of that history,” Sousa said. “I feel like the Portuguese Federation and tennis in Portugal are improving. And these results from from Jaime and also from from Rocha, they are the the youngsters that we have big hopes for them. I feel very, very pleased and happy to see these kids that saw me playing when they were really young become great players. So I’m definitely very happy.”
Sousa faced Djokovic six times in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, so he is plenty familiar with facing Djokovic. Four of those matches came at major championships.
“For sure, it’s going to be an amazing experience. And it definitely will be the best experience so far for him,” Sousa said. “Hopefully, he can do a great match. He’s going to be giving all that he has tomorrow on court, that’s for sure.
“He knows that Novak is probably the best player that ever played tennis, and he’s aware of that. But for sure, he’s going to give his best to try to win.”
