Tennis is a sport laden with the most unlikely of success stories, making it supremely compelling for diehard fans and casuals alike.
After all, while the better players do usually come out on top, the potential for an unlikely fairytale story is what keeps people coming back time and time again.
Arthur Fery’s recent run at the All England Club was the perfect example of this, emerging after a historically bad start to Wimbledon for British tennis.
He made it all the way to the semi-finals and drew particular praise for doing it at just 5 foot 9, a real anomaly for the top level of professional tennis.
However, in the early 2000s, there was another who is widely seen as the smallest to ever compete regularly on the ATP Tour. Sitting at 5 feet 6, meet Olivier Rochus.
Who was Belgian tennis star Olivier Rochus?
It has been 12 years since this Belgian tennis star called time on his career, which spanned 15 years at the highest level.
With a career-high ranking of 24th, he enjoyed a career most would be envious of.
What would have happened if Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner played at the same time as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal?
Rochus reached the fourth round of three of the four Grand Slams, and won a further two ATP titles at the singles level.
However, the highlight of his tennis career undoubtedly came in 2004 when, partnering his countryman Xavier Malisse, they won the men’s doubles French Open title.
And yet, despite all this, it feels like Rochus is best known for partnering Roger Federer at the 1998 junior Wimbledon Championships. Together, they won the title.
Interestingly, they met eight times on the professional circuit, with the Swiss superstar winning all of their matches.
How did Roger Federer perform during his junior career?
Unsurprisingly, Federer enjoyed an esteemed junior career, paving a foundation for the legendary years that would follow.
And, whilst junior titles came easily to him, it was 1998 when he truly broke through, winning both the Wimbledon boys singles draw as well as the boys doubles with Rochus.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion then followed that up with a run to the junior US Open final later that year, losing to David Nalbandian.
He then won the Orange Bowl in 1998, arguably the most prestigious junior tournament there is.
Federer made his first main draw appearance in Gstaad in 1998, and by 1999 finished the year as the youngest player inside the top 100 at world No. 64.
