tennis preferences // atp players

31. The Pet You Own Together

Alexander Zverev:

You and Sascha have a little dog named Aldo together. Whenever you would visit him on tour, you would bring along little Aldo, Alexander adoring him and showing him off like he was your baby. The three of you were like your own little family, and at that time, he couldn't ask for anything more.

Alex de Minaur: 

You and Alex owned seven budgies, each purposely named after Snow White's seven dwarves. The two of you did travel a lot, so whilst you were away, you had his younger siblings look after your birds. However, the two of you did love your pets dearly, and could easily tell the difference between them all despite their similar colours to one another.

Benoit Paire: 

For Christmas, you had gotten Benoit a lizard that he proudly named Scaly. Although you got it for him as a slight joke as he had jokingly said once that he wanted to get a lizard, he quickly grew attached to the small reptile despite rolling his eyes at it when he first received it. It was going to be difficult to decide how he would look after it over the season, but it was a challenge he was willing to take on for his new little friend.

Borna Coric: 

You had grown up with a tabby named Lucy for the majority of your life, and as expected, not long after hanging out with Borna more often than ever, he immediately loved Lucy as if he had known her for as long as you had. Your fondest memories consisted of the two of you sitting on the couch and watching TV with her purring in your lap. Nothing was better to look back on than those moments with just the three of you enjoying each others' company.

Casper Ruud:

You and Casper's extremely energetic dog, Milo, would always be dragging toys to your feet, begging to play. There were times where you both just wished Milo would settle and nap for a bit whilst you relaxed, however, Milo bouncing off of the walls usually meant it was time for the three of you to go for a quick walk or jog (depending on how you were feeling). You had never seen a dog so happy to see a leash until you met Milo. If you and Casper could handle the energy Milo had, you could handle anything.

Denis Shapovalov:

The two of you adopted two brother puppy dogs that traveled with you everywhere you went. Most of the time the two of you would just sit and laugh at the two of them wrestling each other and rolling around on the floor. There was nothing better than you and Denis snuggling up together and being able to cuddle with your two little boys after a long day of work. 

Diego Schwartzman:

You and Diego adopted a dog named Juno a few years ago, and she was possibly one of the biggest dogs you had ever seen. She was a bit older, and a bit slow, but the one thing that you loved more than anything about your huge dog was the fact that she thought she was a little puppy. She would curl up on your lap and step all over your feet, thinking that it would have no effect on you. You couldn't help but laugh when she would try and sit on your lap whilst you watched TV, because at that time you couldn't even see the screen with her big body in the way.

Dominic Thiem:

You and Dominic had a big dog named Humphrey and a talkative bird named Jonas. Most would say that this is a dangerous combination of pets, however, you and Dominic knew that your bird was more likely to attack your dog rather than the other way around. Usually, Jonas would nip at Humphrey whenever Humphrey would take a sniff at him. Your poor dog would yelp and retreat, running away from Jonas, and you or Dominic would comfort him until he felt more comfortable to walk around with the bird guarding the house. 

Felix Auger-Alliassime: 

Before you and Felix met, you already had several pet hamsters, each with their own name. Felix may have thought it was a little odd with how many you had and how you preferred them over dogs and cats, however, not long after the two of you got together, he found himself wanting his own few hamsters to keep him company. The majority of the time when Felix would come and see you, the two of you would just sit and play with your hamsters whilst chatting about anything and everything. 

Grigor Dimitrov:

Before you and Grigor got together, you each had one pet. You had a fluffy cat and Grigor had a big tough-looking dog. When you finally moved in together, it took a bit of time for your pets to start getting along with each other. The two would bark/hiss at each other all the time, with the two of you having to separate them whenever they got into a tussle. Eventually, they got used to living together, but not without chasing each other around the house every now and again.

Hubert Hurkacz:

For some unknown reason, Hubert really wanted a pet turtle. Although it wasn't as difficult to look after as a different pet, he dedicated his life to making sure that his turtle's life was the best that he could possibly give. He spent a lot of his time cleaning his pet's habitat and just watching him crawl around slowly. You would often laugh and just tease him for it, but you thought it was sweet how much he loved his little turtle.

Jannik Sinner:

You and Jannik treated your pet cat as if it were your own child. You would often spoil it with food, toys and pamper it as much as you could. Your friends and family would usually criticize how much time the two of you spent and dedicated to your cat, although, that was only because you were too young to have kids at the time, and needed something or someone to fill the void whilst you waited to get older.

Jordan Thompson:

You and Jordan had a pet parrot that mimicked a lot of whatever the two of you would say most often. It very quickly picked up your names, but after learning that he could teach the parrot words and phrases, Jordan thought it would have been hilarious to teach the parrot swears. You hadn't known about Jordan teaching the parrot swears until you walked past it one time and it screamed 'fuck' at you. It left you confused and annoyed at Jordan for teaching your beloved pet curse words, but after a few minutes and a few more times of the bird saying, you did think that it was pretty funny.

Reilly Opelka:

Your pet cat absolutely hated Reilly. She would always hiss, scratch or nip at him whenever he would go near her or try to pet her. He would often just hide from your cat until she moves on, and get out of its way when she rests on his spot on the couch. It took her a very long time to warm up to Reilly, but in the end, you couldn't help but be in awe at home adorable the two of them looked together after watching them hate each other for so long.

Roger Federer:

You and Roger had a pet dog and cat that were the best friends a dog or cat could ever be. The two of you found it odd how much time the two of them would spend together, and how they would just lay on top of each other when they slept. They would cry for each other whenever they were separated for too long - like when you would walk the dog or take one of them to their vet. The two of them had become companions, and nothing was going to separate them from each other.

Stefanos Tsitsipas:

You and Stefanos never trusted your cat and bird together for obvious reasons. You would often catch the cat staring at the cage, waiting for someone to let the little bird out for a fly around. You only would if the cat was outside or locked in a room, knowing you probably wouldn't have a little bird anymore if you put them together. However, you loved them both equally so the routine that you had of only playing with one of them at a time was an exception you had to make in order to keep them both.

Taylor Fritz:

You and Taylor had two pet cats that you loved dearly. You had always begged him to get another, however, he didn't want the two of you to turn into crazy cat people. Although you had promised that that wouldn't happen, he said that the maximum number of cats you would have was still two. You did still love those two cats with all your heart, despite still wanting more.