Like taking candy from a… Berrettini? ATP Tour stars share their Halloween memories

p Millions of children (and some parents!) across the globe will head lsquo;trick-or-treatingrsquo; on Thursday evening to celebrate Halloween. Hopefully they will have more luck than a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/matteo-berrettini/bk40/overview'Matteo Berrettini/a did when the ATP Tour star was out hunting for candy as a child in his hometown of Rome. /p

p ldquo;I lived in [an area] where it was safe for kids to go around and just bother people,rdquo; the Italian recalled to ATPTour.com. ldquo;One funny story. We had a bag full of candy and stuff, and we rang at a door. A lady opened it, and we said, lsquo;Trick or treat?rsquo; She didnrsquo;t say anything, she just took something from our bag and closed the door. I donrsquo;t think she understood, it wasnrsquo;t us giving to her, but we were shocked.rdquo; /p

p Berrettini remembers dressing up once as a ninja, and another time as a vampire in his bid to secure sweet treats from his neighbours. For the Italianrsquo;s ATP Tour rival a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/grigor-dimitrov/d875/overview'Grigor Dimitrov/a, there was only ever one costume at the front of his mind. /p

p ldquo;I grew up in the States. I think we were in California. I dressed as Batman, Irsquo;ve always liked Batman," said the Bulgarian. "I grew up in a very small town, only 2,000 people, so we had trick-or-treat and we could almost have literally gone to every door. I remember it well, it was a lot of fun.rdquo; /p

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p a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alexander-zverev/z355/overview'Alexander Zverev/a says he also never lacked for enthusiasm in donning a Halloween costume as a kid in his home city of Hamburg. The No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings is now a little hazy on the details, however. /p

p ldquo;We did celebrate Halloween. We went around the houses and got candy, dressed up, but I canrsquo;t remember my favourite costume,rdquo; said Zverev. "Irsquo;m old already, it was 20 years ago. I actually really dressed up though, put paint on my face and everything. I just donrsquo;t remember what it was.rdquo; /p

p So which other ATP Tour stars have fond memories of lsquo;spooky seasonrsquo;? Not a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/flavio-cobolli/c0e9/overview'Flavio Cobolli/a or a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alex-de-minaur/dh58/overview'Alex de Minaur/a, it seemshellip; /p

p ldquo;I hate Halloween, because Irsquo;m afraid. I donrsquo;t like horror, so I donrsquo;t like Halloween,rdquo; said Cobolli, who despite his fears does count a ghost among his diverse selection of tattoos. ldquo;I [particularly] donrsquo;t like skeletons.rdquo; /p

p De Minaur joked: ldquo;I had no childhood. I literally had no childhood. I never celebrated Halloween as a child. In fact, probably the most Irsquo;ve enjoyed Halloween has been leaving candy outside the house for actual kids now who are trick-or-treating.rdquo; /p

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p At just 19 years old, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jakub-mensik/m0ni/overview'Jakub Mensik/a does not have to look to far back to remember his childhood. If itrsquo;s a Halloween costume memory he is searching for, however, he will have to create one in the future. /p

p ldquo;In Czechia itrsquo;s not that big a tradition, but of course itrsquo;s a really great atmosphere,rdquo; said the #NextGenATP star. ldquo;[It signifies] that winter is coming. Itrsquo;s really great to have some spooky stories. I never dressed up, but I will in the future maybe.rdquo; /p

p The lsquo;homersquo; of Halloween is arguably the United States. While a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tommy-paul/pl56/overview'Tommy Paul/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/frances-tiafoe/td51/overview'Frances Tiafoe/a both used to set out with the sole intention of satisfying their respective sweet teeth, trick-or-treating was not the only aspect of their standard American Halloween. /p

p ldquo;We used to do a lot of trick-or-treating and definitely take advantage of the houses that left the candy out in front of the door,rdquo; said Paul. ldquo;I remember the first time we could go without our parents was fun. It used to get a little later, and you probably did something you werenrsquo;t supposed to do, but nothing really crazy. /p

p ldquo;I was Spider-Man a couple of times. I visited college on my college recruiting visit in North Carolina and it was Halloween. I think I dressed up as a football player or something, but that was definitely one of the better Halloweens for me.rdquo; /p

pimg alt="a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tommy-paul/pl56/overview'Tommy Paul/a/a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/frances-tiafoe/td51/overview'Frances Tiafoe/a" style="width: 100%;" src="/-/media/images/news/2024/10/30/16/23/paul-tiafoe-halloween-feature-2024.jpg" /br /

emsubsup

Photo Credit: Kate Brinksman/ATP Tour /sup/sub/em/p

p Tiafoe reminisced: ldquo;Halloween was crazy man. I used to go to some of my homeboyrsquo;s houses and dress crazy. I dressed as a tennis player a lot. I dressed as the guys I looked up to, NBA guys or something like that. I got scared s**tless a couple of times by kids with chainsaws and stuff, joking around, coming out of nowhere or out of bushes. /p

p ldquo;In my neighbourhood it was fun doing that kind of stuff. I had a terrible sweet tooth, so I was running around trick-or-treating for hours. That was like the best day ever for me. I canrsquo;t do that anymore, doing this tennis stuff, but I miss that.rdquo; /p

p Tiafoe may no longer have to go around dodging chainsaws now he is on the ATP Tour, but that does not mean the worldrsquo;s top tennis stars donrsquo;t suffer the odd fright of a different kind, as Berrettini can testify. /p

p ldquo;Probably the scariest thing on Tour is when you figure out you didnrsquo;t sign for a tournament,rdquo; said the Italian. ldquo;Then yoursquo;re like, lsquo;Arghhh, I forgotrsquo;, and you have to call your coach and say you didnrsquo;t sign in. [Calling my coach in that situation] is probably the most fear I feel.rdquo; /p

p [NEWSLETTER FORM] /p