9 tennis stars you never knew were nepo babies

In 2021, Stefanos Tsitsipas ranked at Number 3 in the official men’s singles tier list. While he’s dropped to number 80 on the charts, it’s clear there’s some serious tennis talent at play.

Stefanos’ father, Apostolos, coached the player while his mother, Julia Salnikova, was a top player in her own right, representing the Soviet Union and Greece during her career.

Norwegian nepo baby Casper Ruud has eclipsed the achievements of his father, former Norway number one Christian Ruud.

Casper became the first Norwegian to win an ATP Tour title in 2020, and has been as high as number 2 in the world rankings, a whole 37 places above his father’s highest-ever ranking. Further more, Casper has reached three Grand Slam finals, though is yet to get over the line.  

Andy Murray is one of the world’s best-known players but a lot of his skill is down to early training from his mother, Judy. With 64 national titles through her junior and senior career, Judy had a good run of her own before swapping to coaching.

Andy made good use of his mother’s tutorials, winning three Grand Slam titles, two gold Olympic medals and spending 41 weeks as world number one. 

Leo is the son of one of tennis legend Björn Borg. Björn spent 109 weeks as world number one and won 66 singles titles, including five consecutive Wimbledon victories and six wins at the French Open.

It’s no wonder Leo decided to give a sporting career a shot. He  is currently Swedish number five and has won a title at M15 Sharm ElSheikh and reached the final at at M25 Cairo.

Ben Shelton is a rising star on the ATP Tour and gets his talent from both sides of the family. Dad Bryan was a well-established pro player and college coach, while mum Lisa Witsken was a highly ranked junior player.

Not many players can claim a world number two player as their father but Sebastian Korda is an exception. Twenty-five years after Petr won the Australian Open in 1998, Sebastian reached the quarter finals at Melbourne Park. 

In addition, Sebastien has two ATP singles titles and a doubles title at the 2024 Madrid Open to his name. While he has a little further to go to match his father’s career high world ranking, Sebastien and Petr have already made tennis history as the only father and son duo to rank in the top 20. Sporting success obviously runs in the family as Sebastien’s sisters are both pro golfers, with Nelly Korda number one in the world.

Elizabeth Mandlik’s mother, Hana Mandlikova ,won four major singles championships, including the US Open in 1985. When Elizabeth played in the 2022 US Open, she became the first daughter of a former champion to play in the tournament in the open era.

Elizabeth has won seven singles titles on the ITF circuit, with her highest ranking placing her at number 97. 

Jack Draper made it to number four in the world in 2025, and as the only son of former Lawn Tennis Association CEO Roger Draper and tour player Nicky Draper, so his success was virtually predetermined. Nicky worked as a teacher and used to coach tennis at the Sutton Tennis and Squash Club, where her son first swung his racket.

Australian tennis player Cruz is the son of former world number one Lleyton Hewitt. While his father’s sporting achievements are likely to be unattainable, Cruz is giving it a go and is currently at a career high of 612 in the world rankings.

Touchingly,  Lleyton teamed up with his rising-star son at the 2025 NSW Open in Sydney as a wildcard doubles pair.