University of Georgia Athletics
Costa Completes Comeback
February 24, 2023 | Men's Tennis
In the same way an audience sits in suspense as the curtain reveals actors on a stage, there is a moment in each tennis match where the story is yet to be written.
As a player stands ready to serve, the ball is tossed in the air. The descent is rapid. Then, a crack of the ball against tightly wound strings is followed by a hollow pop as the ball bounces on the opposite end of the court.
For Georgia men's tennis athlete Filipe Costa – like the applause that greets performers as the curtain raises – this is the force that drives him forward.
"That specific thing, that ball pop, to me is the most beautiful thing in the world. I will always have it," Costa said. "And tennis isn't tennis without the ball cracking off the strings."
His love for tennis grew from awe of witnessing Roger Federer's epic between the legs shot at the 2010 US Open to a passion of his own that radiates whenever he speaks on the subject.
Costa - now a redshirt freshman on the Georgia men's tennis team - was the No. 1 recruit in the state of Georgia for the 2021 recruiting class according to tennisrecruiting.net. The young star amassed 100 wins in his junior career all while battling mysterious knee pain.
At 13 years old, a pain appeared on the outside of his knee that would alter the trajectory of his life. Some days it was debilitating, causing Costa's left leg to collapse under the shooting pain; while other days, he could walk, run and compete at the highest level of youth tennis. The unpredictable fantom haunted Costa until 2017 when he could no longer walk. The pain was no longer unpredictable.
Over the course of three years, Costa underwent three knee surgeries to discover the cause of his pain and do what could be done to repair it. The culprit: a deteriorating femur hidden beneath healthy cartilage that stumped orthopedic surgeons across the United States and abroad.
When the ability to play tennis could no longer be an everyday activity, Costa immersed himself into other activities that had previously taken a backseat to tennis.
"There's much more to life than chasing a tennis ball," Costa said, though admitting it still is his favorite thing to do. "But one day, when I get too old or too hurt and I can't chase the ball anymore, I know that it'll be fine."
He dove headfirst into academics, music, theater and writing plays - reinvesting himself in a passion planted during elementary school.
When living in Arizona, third-grade Costa began his theater journey through his school music class. The class put together a circus themed showcase. He was chosen for the strong man act. Costa and two other boys pretended to struggle to pick up cardboard weights before magically finding the strength to hoist them into the air.
"I just go nuts and it's 100% comedy," Costa said when reflecting on a video his mom has of the performance. "That's what launched me into theater. Just the reaction from the crowd and the ability to let loose and just go crazy… I did it ever since then."
Eliane - Costa's mother - taught both visual and performance art classes throughout her career and imparted the discipline required to succeed into her son. Conversely, Costa describes his father, Frederico, as a "bossa nova king" whose jovial spirit and tenacious joy remind him to smile. His father's love for music and guitar were passed down as evidenced by Costa's desire to one day write and produce his own album.
"Going out to play [tennis], it feels like you're going into a performance," Costa said. "This one's just very physically demanding."
Unfortunately, prior surgeries had yet to solve Costa's pain as his first year of college at Arizona State University came to a close. Extensive imaging showed the cadaver pieces contained the same abnormality as his own bone - a fact that made him a case study in London. The only solution in an impossible situation was to undo the work of the past two years and remove a section of bone and cartilage from Costa's knee yet again.
"For the first time in years, two days after the surgery, I was walking without pain," Costa said after his fourth and final knee surgery in May of 2022.
Costa then set a goal: to be back on his feet and training for his college tennis debut at UGA by July 1. Everyday Costa dedicated himself to the KneesOverToesGuy program to build strength in the knee that had limited his performance for four years.
On June 30, 2022 - a day before his initial goal - Filipe Costa returned to tennis.
On Aug. 31, 2022, Costa, for the first time in close to three years, finished a match – this time against Miguel Perez Peña in practice. No one at the time knew it was his first full match he was able to complete since Aug. 4, 2019 - his 17th birthday. When associate head coach Jamie Hunt asked how he felt about the match, all Costa could do was hug his mentor and say "I played a match, coach."
On Oct. 20, 2022, Costa defeated Carter Bradford of Florida Gulf Coast University in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 for his first victory as a Bulldog. The win was his first in over 38 months.
The comeback was complete. And, despite the ups and downs, Filipe Costa is still chasing the next crack of the ball off his racket.
As a player stands ready to serve, the ball is tossed in the air. The descent is rapid. Then, a crack of the ball against tightly wound strings is followed by a hollow pop as the ball bounces on the opposite end of the court.
For Georgia men's tennis athlete Filipe Costa – like the applause that greets performers as the curtain raises – this is the force that drives him forward.
"That specific thing, that ball pop, to me is the most beautiful thing in the world. I will always have it," Costa said. "And tennis isn't tennis without the ball cracking off the strings."
His love for tennis grew from awe of witnessing Roger Federer's epic between the legs shot at the 2010 US Open to a passion of his own that radiates whenever he speaks on the subject.
Costa - now a redshirt freshman on the Georgia men's tennis team - was the No. 1 recruit in the state of Georgia for the 2021 recruiting class according to tennisrecruiting.net. The young star amassed 100 wins in his junior career all while battling mysterious knee pain.
At 13 years old, a pain appeared on the outside of his knee that would alter the trajectory of his life. Some days it was debilitating, causing Costa's left leg to collapse under the shooting pain; while other days, he could walk, run and compete at the highest level of youth tennis. The unpredictable fantom haunted Costa until 2017 when he could no longer walk. The pain was no longer unpredictable.
Over the course of three years, Costa underwent three knee surgeries to discover the cause of his pain and do what could be done to repair it. The culprit: a deteriorating femur hidden beneath healthy cartilage that stumped orthopedic surgeons across the United States and abroad.
When the ability to play tennis could no longer be an everyday activity, Costa immersed himself into other activities that had previously taken a backseat to tennis.
"There's much more to life than chasing a tennis ball," Costa said, though admitting it still is his favorite thing to do. "But one day, when I get too old or too hurt and I can't chase the ball anymore, I know that it'll be fine."
He dove headfirst into academics, music, theater and writing plays - reinvesting himself in a passion planted during elementary school.
When living in Arizona, third-grade Costa began his theater journey through his school music class. The class put together a circus themed showcase. He was chosen for the strong man act. Costa and two other boys pretended to struggle to pick up cardboard weights before magically finding the strength to hoist them into the air.
"I just go nuts and it's 100% comedy," Costa said when reflecting on a video his mom has of the performance. "That's what launched me into theater. Just the reaction from the crowd and the ability to let loose and just go crazy… I did it ever since then."
Eliane - Costa's mother - taught both visual and performance art classes throughout her career and imparted the discipline required to succeed into her son. Conversely, Costa describes his father, Frederico, as a "bossa nova king" whose jovial spirit and tenacious joy remind him to smile. His father's love for music and guitar were passed down as evidenced by Costa's desire to one day write and produce his own album.
"Going out to play [tennis], it feels like you're going into a performance," Costa said. "This one's just very physically demanding."
Unfortunately, prior surgeries had yet to solve Costa's pain as his first year of college at Arizona State University came to a close. Extensive imaging showed the cadaver pieces contained the same abnormality as his own bone - a fact that made him a case study in London. The only solution in an impossible situation was to undo the work of the past two years and remove a section of bone and cartilage from Costa's knee yet again.
"For the first time in years, two days after the surgery, I was walking without pain," Costa said after his fourth and final knee surgery in May of 2022.
Costa then set a goal: to be back on his feet and training for his college tennis debut at UGA by July 1. Everyday Costa dedicated himself to the KneesOverToesGuy program to build strength in the knee that had limited his performance for four years.
On June 30, 2022 - a day before his initial goal - Filipe Costa returned to tennis.
On Aug. 31, 2022, Costa, for the first time in close to three years, finished a match – this time against Miguel Perez Peña in practice. No one at the time knew it was his first full match he was able to complete since Aug. 4, 2019 - his 17th birthday. When associate head coach Jamie Hunt asked how he felt about the match, all Costa could do was hug his mentor and say "I played a match, coach."
On Oct. 20, 2022, Costa defeated Carter Bradford of Florida Gulf Coast University in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 for his first victory as a Bulldog. The win was his first in over 38 months.
The comeback was complete. And, despite the ups and downs, Filipe Costa is still chasing the next crack of the ball off his racket.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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