‘We did it Mum’: Grieving Aussie tennis star pays emotional tribute to his late mother as he clinches his first career ATP title – having flown out the day after her funeral
Rising Australian tennis star Li Tu has won his first ever ATP title, dedicating it to his mother who died three weeks ago and on the day before her birthday.
The shattered son read the eulogy at his mother’s funeral on September 30 before boarding a plane for the ATP Challenger tournament in Seoul, South Korea.
Over the course of three weeks the grieving son battled his way through qualifying and downed fellow Aussies Christopher O’Connell and James Duckworth in the quarter final and semi-final before finally beating China’s World No.115 Wu Yibing 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in the final.
Tu dedicated the win to his mother who died just before he left to compete in Seoul, Korea
The agony and the ecstasy, Li Tu celebrates and breaks down after winning his first ATP title
There were gut-wrenching scenes as the Aussie broke down in tears and sunk down to the court where he kissed the inspiring message written on his wrist.
Before the watershed victory, Tu was working as a tennis coach in Adelaide and just 14 months ago he was unranked. Now he will rocket up 100 places in the world rankings to sit 190th in the world.
‘To be able to do it the day before her birthday was just incredibly, incredibly special,’ Tu told The First Serve.
‘One of the best memories I’ve had.’
Incredibly, Tu did not tell anybody outside of his family about his mother’s battle with cancer or her death, battling his grief throughout the tournament with no support.
However after the final, Tu let it all out with a touching message to his mother on Instagram.
‘It has been the toughest 2 months of my life. Watching you battle cancer, struggle and fight every day as you slowly lost your senses,’ he wrote.
Tu breaks down in tears after the event after three grueling weeks following his mum’s funeral
‘Continuing tennis training because you were relentless that I must keep going and you are ‘getting better’.
‘Being by your side as you took your last breath on 24/09/22 surrounded by our family who love you so much.
‘A few days before you passed, you said to me ‘I’ll see you in Korea’ and I broke down in tears.
‘Coming over to Korea the day after your funeral, I wasn’t sure I could do it but before every match, I looked up at the sky and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw you.
‘We did it Mum.’
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