Canada’s Marc Pepin was 24 years old when he had a meeting with his financial planner Tim Hicks, whose advice was not only telling but something of a roadmap for the next four decades.

“He told me that I had two choices, ‘either get your mansion and Corvette now or retire at the age of 50, travel the world and play tennis’,” Toronto-based Pepin tells itftennis.com.

From that moment on, it was Pepin’s ambition to retire early and spend 11 months of the year travelling the globe and playing the sport he loves on the ITF World Tennis Masters Tour.

For 29 years, Pepin was a schoolteacher and, in his own words, “taught French, some art, coached sports and played guitar in the classroom”, while also dabbling in a couple of private enterprises.

He owned a DJ business employing six people, which he still operates today on a part-time, scaled-back basis and, until recently, was also part of a commercial real estate partnership. This all amounted to Pepin being able to retire in 2008.

“The dream I had at the age of 24 was formally realised with I retired from teaching at 50 and started on the ITF World Tennis Masters Tour,” said Pepin.

“It was sheer excitement as far as the locations of the tournaments I’d be playing were concerned and add in not knowing what to expect also made it intriguing. However, there were a lot of nerves at the same time.

“It was a real wake-up call to see how good the competition really was. But I enjoyed the competition, the locations – the tournaments gave me a great excuse to see the world – and the friends I met.

“I realised that retiring early and pursuing this dream and lifestyle was absolutely right after a year on Tour, although it took me about three years to win my first title alongside Sabine Schmitz in 2010.”

It may well have taken a little time for Pepin to top his first ITF podium, but he has made up for it since, chalking up a whopping 62 ITF World Tennis Masters Tour titles.

Considered a doubles and mixed doubles specialist, the 65-year-old has reached No. 1 in the ITF World Tennis Masters Tour Rankings in both disciplines and a career-high of No. 28 in singles. In short, he has made the most of the last 15 years.

“I am proud of my achievements and my medals,” added Pepin. “All my medals are on a wall in my house in two special cases, and all the trophies are in a bookcase. I will eventually donate them to the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame.

“I have also represented Canada at the ITF Masters World Championships on four occasions and the highlight of my career was winning bronze in the doubles with Frank Sabetti in Helsinki in 2016.”

Pepin was first selected for Canada ahead of the 2001 ITF Masters World Championships in Velden, Austria as he played provincial and national tournaments before committing to Masters tennis full-time.

Indeed, between 1978 and 2013 he consistently topped the men’s singles rankings in the province of New Brunswick after winning 165 titles and finishing as runner-up on 36 occasions – a tremendous achievement.

It was most certainly a sign of things to come on the global stage, although digging deeper into Pepin’s past it is perhaps unsurprising that he would one day make his tennis presence felt.

“My mom and dad both played tennis, in fact they met on a tennis court,” said Pepin. “In 1964, when I was six years old, in Zweibrucken, Germany [Pepin's father was in the Air Force] they used to take me along to watch.

“A year later I was telling them that, ‘if you take me to the court then I want to play’, so my dad bought me a $4.99 Penguin racket and I started playing and that’s where I fell in love with tennis.”

Much has happened since, with Pepin as hungry as ever to play as much tennis as possible. Only a matter of weeks ago he lifted mixed doubles silverware in the 65+ age category at MT1000 Santa Cruz in Bolivia alongside Jeanie MacEachern.

Indeed, it is always interesting to gauge how seriously a Masters Tennis player takes competing on Tour as the answers tend to vary considerably, although Pepin’s retort is unequivocal and allows very little room for doubt.

“I’m very competitive and take my sport seriously,” said Pepin, who in 2008 has authored a book, Slice and Dice, which documents his time as an esteemed tennis player in New Brunswick and further afield.

“I train on and off court, go to the gym and work with coaches. I’m always striving to improve any aspect of my game. I watch what I eat, limit alcohol intake and make sure I get proper rest.

“I also stretch and always give my body enough time to recover from injuries, while I prepare for tournaments with lots of drills and lots of practice matches.

“Every time I step on the court for a match, I am always excited. As soon as the match starts, I do my best to win that match using a combination of tactics. That said, I’m having a friendly beer after the match with my opponent.”

As well as the trophies and medals, the founding principles of Masters Tennis – healthy competition, camaraderie, health and fitness benefits and travel opportunities – are very much valued by Pepin.

He says the friends he has made from playing ITF Masters Tennis is what he “treasures the most” – he has connected with 2,514 of them on Facebook and regularly keeps in touch.

It is the dinners he has with these pals, post-match drinks and the player parties that are his favourite aspects of events, while over the years he has competed at 44 venues in 17 countries.

This is set to grow in 2024 as each year Pepin likes to add a new location to his back catalogue of venues at which he has played. Italian capital Rome is the next on his hitlist.

“Rome is a magnificent city and, aside from tennis, I am going to spend three extra days visiting the Colosseum, Vatican, Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain,” said Pepin. “This is what Masters Tennis enables you to do.”

Incidentally, the worst aspects of the Masters Tennis are “jet lag and dealing with airports”, but looking at his trophy haul he has managed to sidestep such issues with consummate ease.

Pepin and his band Rosie's Hot Mess

In actual fact, Pepin, who also plays bass guitar in the band Rosie’s Hot Mess, has made the last 40 years look pretty straightforward, certainly far less complicated than they probably were – and long may it continue.

The ITF World Tennis Masters Tour is far richer for people like Marc Pepin.