The Office or The Tour: What’s next for Matija Pecotic?

WATCH: Pecotic's remarkable run comes to an end against Marcos Giron

On Wednesday morning, after 33-year-old Matija Pecotic stunned former Top 10’er Jack Sock in his very first ATP main-draw match, Princeton tennis coach Billy Pate checked his phone and saw a coded message. It read: House money xxx.

This reference hearkened back to the days a decade ago, when Pate would sometimes tell Pecotic and his Princeton teammates that in certain situations, they were playing with “house money.” The x’s in Pecotic’s note represented the three players he improbably defeated en route to the second round of the Delray Beach Open.

At one point in his distinguished collegiate career, Pecotic printed pictures of his collegiate opponents on large A4 paper. He slashed a big red “X” over each face as he knocked them off on court, one by one.

“I did that 22 times in a row,” Pecotic told an ATP media staffer.

There would be no fourth “x” to apply on Wednesday, as another chapter closed on this extraordinary, life-long story of wildly pendular success and frustration. Pecotic was beaten in the second round by another former U.S. collegian, Marcos Giron, 6-3, 6-3.

Yanked back into the present day, one large question looms for Pecotic: should he give the ATP Tour one more try?

“I encouraged him to pursue the dream,” Pate told me the morning after Pecotic’s loss. “He showed that he belongs at that (tour) level, he has a lot of juice left. He should try because he has a passion for this game.

“He can work for the rest of his life, he’s going to have a great career in whatever he pursues because of his education, so why not?”

Pecotic, a rangy lefty with a world-class backhand, will certainly be tempted to give it another go. His decision will partly depend, as Pate said, on the flexibility of his employer—Wexford Real Estate Investors. Sure, at age 33 his window of opportunity is shrinking at an accelerated pace. But then we’re living in an era that has shattered all the rules governing an athlete’s use-by date. Ten of the Top 100 ATP-ranked players are at least as old as Pecotic, and he doesn’t have anything near their wear-and-tear.

While it’s not that beating Sock wasn’t a big upset, it’s just that I knew he (Pecotic) always had the potential to compete at this level. He’s fierce in the way Nadal is fierce. Billy Pate, head coach of Princeton tennis

Roger Federer was 41 when he retired. His primary career rival, Rafael Nadal, won the Australian Open at 35 despite serial injuries. Serena Williams was a force to reckon with into her 40th year, while her older sister Venus is still active. Pundits generally agree that at age 35, recent Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic is playing tennis as well as or even better than ever before.

“At his age the window is a lot smaller,” Pate said of Pecotic. “But his body is strong, and so is his discipline. And it’s clear he’s super hungry for it.”

However, there are major differences between Pecotic and the pro veterans who rewrote the age rules. They are rare generational talents; Pecotic is not. They have enormous reserves of experience and pro-tour wisdom, which counts for a lot over the long haul. Finally, Pecotic may be reluctant to pause his career in high finance; he is a Director of Capital Markets for a billion dollar firm. As job descriptions go, “Master of the Universe” compares favorably with “Top 50 ATP tennis pro.” And there’s no comparison in the money Pecotic stands to earn.

“It would be a real tough decision to go back to the tour,” Tennis Channel analyst Chanda Rubin said after Pecotic defeated Sock. “He’s at home here in Florida, so it’s fine for this event. But if he really wanted to play the tour he would have to go out and travel, do a lot of things in his life differently.”

One thing about Pecotic, though: He is a different breed of cat. An admirer of Nadal, he may not have the same degree of talent but he seems to possess a measure of the Spanish icon’s passion, toughness and realism. Those qualities can carry a player far, if not all the way to the trophy presentation podium.

Pecotic had tried twice to make it on the tour after graduating from Princeton in 2014, only to be stymied. First, in 2016, it was injury—a career-threatening, eight-month layoff just as his ranking was rising into the 200s that convinced him to develop a back-up plan. So Pecotic enrolled in the Harvard School of Business. As he neared graduation, he won an ITF event in Cancun during exam week and decided to give the tour another shot. He was slowly working his way up the rankings—again—when Covid and its associated restrictions shut things down and ultimately left Pecotic desk bound.

“We like to create these David and Goliath stories,” Pate told me. “But while it’s not that beating Sock wasn’t a big upset, it’s just that I knew he (Pecotic) always had the potential to compete at this level. He’s fierce in the way Nadal is fierce. He loves the grind. He loves the physicality, he loves the work.”

Pate added, “Matija may be in the office all day, but he’s up at 5 a.m. and he’s going to the gym, hitting before or after work. Sure he hits with his mentors at work (his boss, a frequent hitting partner, is in his 70s), but he’s in a quality area for tennis. He can get some good hits down there.”

The ATP Tour is a few orders of magnitude more challenging than the West Palm Beach tennis scene. Competing in Delray was, by Pecotic’s own admission, something of a lark—a great fit for a gifted athlete who wanted to test himself one more time. The experience broke his way, starting with his back-door entry into the event as an alternate.

But why quibble? When people feel a fire in the belly they will set aside sober considerations, as well as good sense, in seeking to quench it.

When Pecotic was asked on the court after his first-round win what it would take to get him “back on the tour,” he replied: “I don’t know, maybe we should ask the crowd. Should I give it another go on the tour?”

The fans screamed and cheered, making their collective opinion clear. Everyone likes a good story, so why end it now?