The life of a tennis player extends well beyond the ATP Tour. While playing careers eventually come to an end, tennis stars can continue to compete in the business world long after they leave the court. Launched in 2024, the ATP Player Mentoring Programme was designed to make that transition as seamless as possible.
Roberto Bautista Agut and Mikhail Kukushkin, who are set to retire in 2026, are among those who took part in the second cohort of the ATP Player Mentoring Programme from 2025-2026.
The initiative aims to pair players with industry-leading experts in business areas that interest them, helping them expand their professional networks and support them as they explore post-career opportunities.
Former World No. 9 in the PIF ATP Rankings Bautista Agut, who is set to retire at the end of the season, shared his views on the programme and how it has benefited him.
“The main goal of the programme is to continue learning because my career was ending and life goes on,” Bautista Agut said. “It is always good to surround yourself with people who know more than you, who are businessmen and can guide you, teach you and you can continue learning. I’m also talking to Fernando Ferran, my mentor, about how to structure a portfolio, how to distribute the assets, the daily income, the investment funds, and how to keep the company going.
“The next professional step that I have is to continue to take a little more seriously the company and I would like to continue to be linked to tennis in a slightly different way than I am used to. I would like to start a project with a player also doing it for a few weeks and, well, that's the idea: to structure a bit of my heritage and, of course, to benefit from everything that tennis has given me and to take a little more responsibility for the agriculture company that I have in Spain and to link tennis to other things.”
Kukushkin has also announced his upcoming retirement later this season. The 38-year-old explained that the programme helped him feel confident and prepared for life after tennis. The Kazakhstani plans to open a tennis academy and says he now feels able to do so thanks to the mentoring he received.
"The main goal for me was to prepare for the future," Kukushkin said. "I’ve come to the point in my life and my career, and I didn't know what I would do after my retirement. I was not ready. At one moment I realised that I'm not ready for my next step, and I have to do something. I have to start somewhere. That's why I enjoyed this programme, so I can get some advice, some help from a business point of view and from mentors so they can prepare me for the future… I really needed help from someone experienced from the outside."
What Kukushkin had in mind for the future entering his year in the ATP Player Mentoring Programme was not what he finished it with. The many conversations with his mentor, Ferran Prieto, proved fruitful in helping him pave his path forward.
"Thanks to him, it was an amazing time. I got a lot of good advice. I explored a lot of different possibilities and options for my future. In the beginning, I thought I would choose one way, but then at the end, right now I understand that the option I wanted to do, it was wrong for me. I didn't want it," Kukushkin said. "At that time, I didn't have a clear picture in my head, and I'm really thankful for this programme, to my mentor, for all the help, because in the end, I understand what I want to do.
"I'm opening up my academy, I’m launching my project, I'm doing all these things related to my project and I was able to come to this point. I'm able to be here with my tennis academy, mostly because of this mentoring programme."
With the second year of the programme coming to an end, a new cohoirt of players has begun, with participants including Joe Salisbury, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, retired star Kyle Edmund and more.
The 2026-2027 cohort of the ATP Player Mentoring Programme.
Below are some of the 2026-2027 cohort player/mentor pairings:
Diego Hidalgo / Fernando Martin
Romain Arneodo / Eugenio Cicconetti
Pierre-Hugues Herbert / Paddy Cosgrave
Joe Salisbury / Kevin Clancy
Orlando Luz / Rafael Westrupp
Luke Johnson / Chris Beltran
Robert Cash / Ander Michelena
Ryan Peniston / Alex Attard-Manché
JJ Tracy / David Kasper
Kyle Edmund / Ferran Prieto
Neil Oberleitner / Karl Altenburg
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