Journey from being a waiter to facing Carlos Alcaraz, Roger Federer love & more: Li Tu opens up in Exclusive from Australian Open

When life gives you a second chance, you should take it. That's what Australian tennis sensation Li Tu did.

Tu, aged 28, debuted on the ITF Futures circuit in 2011 but quit tennis in 2014. He spent the following five years doing odd jobs but returned to the racket sport as a coach. This helped him fall in love with the sport again and he began competing on the ATP Tour professionally in 2021, making his Grand Slam main draw debut at the Happy Slam that year.

The next time Tu reached the first round of a Major, he found himself pitted against Spain's Carlos Alcaraz. This happened during the 2024 US Open and he managed to win a set against the swashbuckling Spaniard in an otherwise disappointing outcome (6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1).

The World No. 168 most recently contended for the Australian Open title but failed to overcome No. 24 seed Jiri Lehecka in the opening round, losing 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(1). Following the defeat, Sportskeeda sat down with Li Tu at Melbourne Park for an exclusive chat and learned about his journey on and off the court.

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Li Tu Exclusive at Australian Open

In Picture: Li Tu in action at the 2025 Australian Open. (Getty)

Sportskeeda: Jiri was obviously a tough opponent, you managed to take a set, what do you think clicked in that set and why couldn't you repeat that?

Li Tu: I think I was putting on some good pressure on returns. I served well that set, made some aggressive second serve returns, which sort of got me that break. And then following on from that, his serve is really really big. I was struggling to apply as much pressure as I would normally do on his second serve because he was serving like 170-180, which is quite big. So yeah, that’s just something for me to try to improve on after this tournament.

Sportskeeda: In terms of improving, do you have any goals for this season?

Li Tu: I think Top 100 has always been a bit of a goal. I think this year I really can do it. That’s definitely the number that I’m aiming for. In regards to tournaments, I haven’t really thought about tournament results or anything like that. Just trying to think week per week, how can I improve, where can I improve and hopefully the ranking and everything looks after itself.

Sportskeeda: You’re big on R&B. Any particular artist that you love listening to?

Li Tu: Jeez… music taste, that was probably like a while ago. A bit of 2000s R&B like Ne-Yo… I don’t listen to that much, now I’m probably more like an acoustic guy…. Ed Sheeran, Justin Beiber, I love those guys.

Sportskeeda: What did the break from tennis teach you about life and why did you decide to come back?

Li Tu: I stopped playing when I was about to turn 16 and when I was 18, I came back for six or seven months. But when I put it down after that, I took six years off, you know, I was a waiter, a delivery driver, you know, doing different jobs taught me about life, got a different perspective. Then I started coaching and falling in love with tennis again, really enjoyed being back on court, teaching young kids about the journey of being a tennis player, how all the little things matter. I remember being 23 and I was like, ‘Look, if I wanna be coaching, while I’m still young, wouldn’t it be better if I had more playing experience.’ So yeah, that really spurred it on for me. Then I started playing again, and yeah really loved it ever since. If it wasn’t for coaching and the amazing kids that I coach, I don’t think I’d be back and some timely things that happened with friends coming back into my life and coaches, yeah, it was really cool.

Sportskeeda: You're obviously a big Roger Federer fan, did he inspire you to come back to tennis in any way?

Li Tu: I guess, I’ve always loved Federer, loved his game and everything… yeah, mm, it wasn’t necessarily anything about Federer. Obviously, he’s very inspiring but that probably didn’t spur my comeback.

Sportskeeda: You've spoken about your wife very fondly in the past. How does it feel to have someone who respects and loves you regardless of your results on the court?

Li Tu: You know, it’s funny, because when Kimberley and I first started dating, she knows a lot more about tennis now but when we first started dating, I had like no ranking points, just started the journey. We both actually were oblivious to the travel, to how hard it really is to make it. It’s been a learning curve for both of us as a couple to navigate how much travel there. But as a team, she’s invested, I’m invested and she contributes a lot to my tennis as well. Yeah, I’m just really excited that we get to travel more this year.