Back in the early 1980s, Ernesto Escobedo Jr. dreamed of becoming a professional tennis player.

"But I did not have any talent," he explained last week from Las Vegas. "No, no, no. I wasn't really a tennis player."

As a teenager, he played events in Mexico and found his way to small-money tournaments in Holland, France, Italy and Spain. But after a few years of scuffling -- his career-high doubles ranking was No. 727 -- he returned to Mexico.

"I loved everything about tennis," he said, laughing. "But when I hit 20, I started to realize it wasn't my future. I always had the feeling that I was going against the water, the ocean."

In Mexico, where most of his family was, he met his future wife, Cristina. In 1986, they moved to Los Angeles, Ernesto Jr.'s birthplace.

A decade later, Ernesto III appeared, and although his father tried to steer him into team sports like soccer and basketball, he was happiest with a tennis racket in his hand. This made Ernesto Jr. very unhappy.

Escobedo is coming off a first title, at an ATP World Tour Challenger event in Monterrey, Mexico. Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

"He didn't want to me to go through what he did," Ernesto III said.

The son hit against the wall at school, sometimes joined by his mother. Initially, Ernesto Jr., who drove a truck for UPS, stayed out of it. But when he saw those unnaturally fluid strokes, Ernesto III's precocious court sense, he eventually relented.

The first tournament, at the age of 8, came at Pacific Palms in Industry Hills, California.

"I lost first round," Ernesto III said. "But it was so much fun. I liked being out there and competing."

Gradually, the father's deferred dream came true -- for the son. And today, the son is succeeding primarily because of his father.

On Oct. 15, when Ernesto III won the ATP World Tour Challenger event in Monterrey, Mexico, the first call was to his father.

"He cried," Ernesto III said. "He said he was proud of me.

"That meant a lot."

Escobedo, at 20, is one of the most dynamic young players in this country. Brad Gilbert, former coach of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick (one of Escobedo's idols growing up) sees him as a future top-50 player and maybe better.

The title at Monterrey completed a spectacular 53-week cycle that saw his ATP ranking rise from No. 541 to a career-high No. 129. After reaching the semifinals a year ago in Monterrey, Escobedo ripped through the Challenger circuit, reaching the finals in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Cary, North Carolina, and winning in Lexington, Kentucky, beating highly regarded American teenager Francis Tiafoe in the final.

At 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, Escobedo hits the ball big off both wings and, according to Gilbert, has a better serve than his modest body would suggest. Gilbert, however, describes his movement as "average."

When this was relayed to him, Escobedo started laughing.