Lajal: ‘I Wasn’t Supposed To Be A Tennis Player’

Coming from a family with a motorsports background, Mark Lajal was likely set to follow the same path. But life had something else in the cards for the 20-year-old Estonian who won his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in June.

At a career-high No. 224 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Lajal spent his early years with his hands on handlebars before he ever picked up a racquet.

“I wasn’t really supposed to be a tennis player. I come from a family in motorsports,” Lajal told ATPTour.com. “My dad was a motocross racer and my grandpa was a rally driver. I come from a very sporting family, but a very extreme sporting family. When I was younger, from like three years old, I started racing motorcycles. I raced them until I was eight or nine years old.”

With a unique background detached from tennis, it begs the question: How did Lajal first start playing the sport in which he is now a professional?

“When I was six years old, my dad went on a road trip with his motorcycle… I was with my mom in the summer and my mom didn’t want to take me to motocross races because she didn’t like it, so she put me into tennis,” Lajal said. “So I started playing tennis on the side and I liked it obviously. When I was nine, I chose tennis over motocross and now I’m here.”

Lajal stated that he still has an interest in motorsports, most notably Formula One. His upbringing is not the only thing that sets Lajal’s story apart from others. What may also catch fans off guard is his distinct dreadlocks.

“I’ve had them for a very long time. I think now it’s been like 12, 13 years,” Lajal said. “It has kind of become a big part of me and my image. A lot of people know me just from my dreads. I enjoy it and I think it’s cool.

“The real reason why I did it was because my older sister she did them and I saw them and I was so fascinated. I was like, ‘Mom, I want to do it!’ She was like, ‘Do it, it’s your hair, whatever happens, happens’. So I did them and I loved them, so I kept them.”

Mark Lajal at the 2023 Little Rock Challenger.” />
^{Credit: Nelson Chenault}

Making a rapid rise on the ATP Challenger Tour, Lajal said he is inspired by fellow Estonians Anett Kontaveit, Kaia Kanepi and Jurgen Zopp, stating, “They have showed me everything is possible coming from a small tennis country.”

The Tallinn-native Lajal has competed in less than a dozen Challenger events, triumphing in June in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he was competing in just his sixth outing at that level.

“It felt really good. It kind of gave me reassurance when I won it because it showed me that I have the level to beat some really good guys and get some good matches in,” Lajal said. “It gave me a lot of confidence. I was really happy after that win.”

Still early in his young career, Lajal has always dreamed big since he first began playing tennis.

“My mom remembers me telling her at age seven or eight, ‘I’m going to win the US Open!’” Lajal said. “When I was really young I had the passion and when I started playing tournaments, that’s when I wanted to be a professional tennis player.”

Mark Lajal claims his maiden ATP Challenger Tour trophy in Little Rock, Arkansas.” />
^{Mark Lajal wins the ATP Challenger Tour 75 event in Little Rock, Arkansas. Credit: Nelson Chenault}