On The Line: Radu Albot

Radu Albot surprised third seed John Isner at the inaugural New York Open on Wednesday evening to earn his first victory against an opponent inside the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings. 

It does not get any easier for the Moldovan, who will face former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori in the quarter-finals. But the Japanese superstar is not taking Albot lightly.

“He’s a very good grinder player and he doesn’t miss much,” Nishikori said of the World No. 91. “I’ve got to really focus against him.”

ATPWorldTour.com spoke to Albot after his second-round triumph against the home favourite, discussing his passions, what he wants to do after his career and more.

What’s your biggest passion outside of sport and why?
My hobby is to ride my bike. This is one of my favourite things. When I get home I ride the bike all the time with my friends. I just get excited for it. It’s my top hobby.

What was the last book you read?
I read a lot of books. I read the biographies of a lot of players, like Andre Agassi. I read The Four Musketeers. I also read The Mindset, a book about psychology.

If you could have dinner with three people who would they be?
Maybe some famous people or some actor.

Favourite Movie?
Mr. Brooks.

Last concert or show you attended?
I was at a lot of shows. I was at Aladdin. I was at The Lion King. The last one I was at was Cirque du Soleil.

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Favourite sport to watch besides tennis?
Speaking about sports, now it’s the Winter Olympics. I like the biathlon a lot. I like watching curling. If you talk about some other sports, not in the winter, I like soccer.

Favourite club?
I like Real Madrid.

Whom do you admire most?
I admire my father, I have to say, because he helped me a lot in life and taught me a lot of things. So I think that’s the person I admire the most.

My tennis career will be a success if ___________
I can’t say my career is not a success. Everybody is proud with what they achieved and what they’ve done. I guess human beings all the time want more and more. You have something, you want something else. You want more. But nobody is really satisfied and thankful for what they have at the moment. So I think I would say my career is a success. Of course you want to be [ranked] higher, but I’m happy.

After my tennis career, I want to ___________
I think I would like to stay in tennis, in sport, maybe to open an academy in my country because tennis and everything is not really well developed in my country and I would like to help the kids get better. There is not really a player who is coming behind me. As a professional, there are no ranked players. So maybe I would like to improve the sport in my country and create some possibilities for the younger kids.