DANIEL TULGARA

MY STORY

Hi my name is Daniel, I was born in Republic Of Moldova when I was 2 months old I moved to South Africa and that's where I started my tennis journey. I started tennis at 4 years old. I first started playing football because my dad was a professional football player but then I saw tennis on tv and was fascinated about it and so I started grinding twice a week. Then I started getting better and better and eventually I started competing in tournaments and training 7 days a week.

I was top 10 of every age group and played until 10 years old. Then I started playing with my father who really pushed me to the limits and I remember the blisters, the pain I had but looking back now I'm grateful I went through that experience because it really showed my character and then I said to myself  " Yeah I will do anything to be world number 1", so I had to look for better competition and kids so I could raise my level and moved to Spain.

When I was 11, I went to Rafa Nadal Academy to play for 2 months and got trained by Toni Nadal and won my first tournament in Spain under 12 but Mallorca was a small island so there weren’t many tournaments, so then I came to Barcelona Tennis Academy and my Journey to Number 1 became more real, the more I played every day. I was 17th in Cataluña under 14 but then when I was 15 I had an injury in my right arm, I went to doctors and more doctors and none of them could find  solutions. I was a rare case, so I couldn't hit a forehand at all. The first 6 months I tried and tried to hit a forehand but I couldn't and I was starting to lose hope, so then I stopped playing tournaments for a year and didn't know if I could play tennis anymore I was losing my goal, my dream every day to be the best tennis player I could be and I was devastated.

So with no other solution I started playing two backhands on both sides and started to play tournaments again but still it was tough to play two backhands on both sides and with more losses I felt like I was doomed. Every match I would lose I would think " I would be able to beat him if i had my forehand" " why me " " I'm better than him and I'm still loosing " and then I was losing my confidence so I didn't know what to do anymore I was lost. I was thinking all these years of tennis for what this was. Also not about me anymore, I thought of my parents, how they sacrificed so much for me to come to Spain to give me a chance and I was ruining it and felt like I was disappointing them.

So then I was going like that playing tournaments with both hands. Losses and some wins here and there, but one day I started playing with my left hand for fun because Nadal was my favorite player and I realized I can actually play with my left hand. Of course, not as well with my right but it was a start and no one could believe I wanted to switch to my left hand. It was the only option I was left with, so I went for it. I thought to myself: what do I have to lose? So I started training more and more with my left hand and it was difficult at the start, but I kept pushing and eventually I started to play one-handed backhand because my two-handed backhand was not as good. So now I was a righty serve with a left-handed forehand and one-handed backhand. People thought I was from another planet but I always thought to myself: it's just the hard work and discipline and I’ve been continuing like this all this time now and I'm 17 and I'm still grinding.

I have been training so much that people think I’m naturally left- handed. Now I am gaining my confidence back and now every day I play it's a process - a journey, not the destination. There is no end, only the present. And now I'm trying to play futures and go the men's level of tennis and also go to the USA for tennis, so I can explore and get more opportunities to get that number 1 title.