Tennis Acumen

Rinky Hijikata: WINNING AND LOSING

Tennis Acumen at the  Columbus Fall Challenger 2022. And we are here with Rinky Hijikata, from Australia.

(photo  credit: Karl Corbett)

Tennis Acumen: Rinky, let me ask about your spirit, your attitude. Some guys absolutely love to win, and some guys absolutely  hate to lose. Where are you on that spectrum?

Rinky Hijikata: I definitely go both ways. I feel like I'm somewhere in the middle. When you win, there's no other feeling like it, I think. And especially when you're in tight matches,  when the stakes are high. There is  all kinds of adrenaline. The euphoria when you win can't really be compared to anything else. And then, obviously, when you lose the tough one, it's the same level of emotion. It's a tough pill to swallow and it can be pretty painful. But, when you're on the tour, you pretty much lose every week. There's only one winner. I feel like I've tried to become a better loser. I guess I'm trying to not take it as hard as I have in the past and try to move on a little bit quicker.

Tennis Acumen: Thanks for talking with us. I hope to run into you a few years down the road, maybe a decade or so. I'll ask you about life after tennis.

Rinky Hijikata: Perfect. That sounds good.

(This exclusive interview has generated seven ‘quick read’ excerpts, to be posted at tennisacumen.com over time.)

Photo of the Day: Reilly Opelka

Reilly Opelka had a great run in Atlanta at the 250 tournament in July,  2019. On the way to the semifinals, he beat former Atlanta champion John Isner. His ranking leaped from #57 to #43, his first entry into the top 50.

photo credit: Karl Corbett (c) Tennis Acumen

NICK CHAPPELL: THE DAILY GRIND

This is one of twelve excerpts from an exclusive interview with Nick Chappell at the 2022 Columbus Fall Challenger. They will be posted over time in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Tennis Acumen: How do you deal with the daily grind? I lived next door to a guy who played in a Super Bowl. I asked him: “What's the hardest part about playing in the NFL?” I expected, he’d say it was fourth down and inches to go in a big game. He said: “No, it's the drills. It's the summer camp where you just get up every day and do it over and over again.” You're pretty experienced at getting up every day and doing it over and over. What is that like? Where does the discipline come from?

Nick Chappell: It's easy to feel like you're doing the same thing every day, which you are. You have to be creative and keep things interesting. That's the most important thing, because it's really easy to get in a rut, especially if you're losing. If you're winning, you're probably feeling good no matter what. Especially when you're losing, it is hard to keep being motivated and find things to work on. I guess that's normally what a coach would do. But if you're traveling by yourself, it's even more important that you find ways to engage yourself in practice. That’s really where matches are won.

Tennis Acumen: What is the most important aspect on tour, practicing before the tournament, or finding ways to practice once you've lost in the tournament.

Nick Chappell: During a tournament, you have to taper a little bit and manage your body. But when you have weeks off or you've lost early, it's really important to really hit it hard and work on things and get better. So, the hardest part is finding ways to do that. Finding ways to work on things and get better while also keeping it fresh and interesting because otherwise it's going to get boring.

NICK CHAPPELL: COLLEGE TO THE PROS

This is one of twelve excerpts from an exclusive interview with Nick Chappell at the 2022 Columbus Fall Challenger.

They will be posted over time in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Tennis Acumen: Now, making the transition from college to the tour. What was that transition like ?

Nick Chappell: It took me a little while before I made a little breakthrough. It took me about a year, I guess, on tour before I made it to the finals in a couple of Futures tournaments. That got me into a few more Challengers. But it took about a year for that to happen. And I am trying to think of what really made the difference, coming out of college. Maybe I put a little too much pressure on myself right away. It took me a little while to get out of my own way on the tour. I actually played better in the team environment than coming out and going solo. Now it doesn't matter. I can't even remember what that felt like because it's so long ago. But immediately out of college, it was weird going from a team environment with a lot of people supporting you and playing for something bigger than yourself, and then coming out on and playing individual matches. That was a little bit of a letdown. The atmosphere isn't quite the same. Even at these tournaments, there are matches where you play with fans. But, on average, it's not quite the same environment as a team college atmosphere.

Tennis Acumen: Bigger crowds at college. as opposed to, say, breaking into Futures.

Nick Chappell: Yes. Oh, Futures especially. Yes. Yes.

Tennis Acumen: And do crowds affect you when you're on court?

Nick Chappell: Yes. I wish I could play in front of a huge crowd every time. I love playing in front of people.

Nick Chappell: GETTING STARTED

 

Tennis Acumen: This is Tennis Acumen at the Columbus, Ohio Challenger, Fall of 2022. And we are here with Nick Chappell. Thanks for joining us, Nick. Tell me, how did you get started playing tennis?

Nick Chappell: Well, my mom played tennis and her mother was city champion in Fort Wayne, Indiana, so our whole family played. Tennis was really big in our family. I have a brother who's four years older than me. He started playing pretty young, I was constantly out on the courts, watching him practice. It felt like I was always on a court, actually, by the time I was five years old.

Tennis Acumen: It's in your DNA. You are wired, Nick. And what point did you think you might take it seriously?

Nick Chappell: At age 13 or 14. I was playing national tournaments in the ten- and twelve-year-old age brackets, but still playing other sports. And then about sophomore year of high school, I started doing online school to free up my time, and thought I would want to be a pro.

Tennis Acumen: And did anyone tell you how hard it was going to be ?

Nick Chappell: Probably not. I had a good junior career, especially playing some of the bigger ITF events. It was great motivation and everything, but probably a little skewed. You don't realize how much tougher the pro circuit is than the ITF circuit. But once I got to college, it was a little more eye opening. The college level of play is very good and that started giving me more perspective of where my game is.

This is one of twelve excerpts from an exclusive interview with Nick Chappell at the 2022 Columbus Fall Challenger. They will be posted over time in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Rinky Hijikata: Getting Started in Tennis

Tennis Acumen at the  Columbus, Ohio  Fall Challenger 2022. And we are here with Rinky Hijikata, from Australia.

(photo credit: Karl Corbett)

Tennis Acumen: How did you get started in tennis? What was it like growing up?

Rinky Hijikata: My dad's a tennis coach. I grew up in Sydney, Australia. My older brother and sister used to play a little bit. I used to just go down the courts with them and pick up balls for them and started hitting a little bit. And  I really loved to play because I was pretty active as a kid. So, I tried to do everything that I could. I would play any sport. And yes, tennis happened to be the one for me. .

Tennis Acumen: Excellent. And did anyone tell you how hard it was going to be for? .

Rinky Hijikata: Not right away. When you pick up a racket, when you're five, six years old, then you're just playing for the fun of it. You know, your career was never really in mind. So, I was just trying to have fun. And then maybe a bit later on, people were telling me, it's not going to be easy, but it's something that I really wanted to do. And I'm happy that I'm out here playing. .

Tennis Acumen: Are there any other sports that you played growing up? .

Rinky Hijikata: Well, I did whatever I could. I played rugby, surfing, lifesaving at the beach, whatever I could do. I just loved being active and getting out there and playing sport.

Tennis Acumen: Your parents wanted to get you out of the house because you were bouncing off the walls. .

Rinky Hijikata: Yes, the longer I was out of the house, the better.

(This exclusive interview has generated seven ‘quick read’ excerpts, to be posted at tennisacumen.com over time.)

Photo of the Day: Novak Djokovic

IN 2013, Novak Djokovic made it to the 3rd round in Cincinnati, and all the way to the finals in the US Open that followed. After that, he went on a 31-match winning streak and took the titles at Beijing, Shanghai, Paris and the year-end finals at London. 

Wander through Tennis Acumen's Photos of the Day, here: (LINK)

NICK CHAPPELL: PLAYING COLLEGE TENNIS

This is one of twelve excerpts from an exclusive interview with Nick Chappell at the 2022 Columbus Fall Challenger.

They will be posted over time in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Tennis Acumen: How did you get recruited into college and make the decision to go to college?

Nick Chappell: Well, it was interesting cause I wasn't really looking at TCU. I was looking at a lot of Big Ten schools, including UCLA and North Carolina. Texas Christian wasn't really on my radar. I hadn't really even heard of the school, to be honest. And then my brother transferred there during my sophomore year of high school. The TCU coach, David Rodito, who is still the head coach, took over my senior year of high school. For me, the decision was a last-minute thing. My senior year of high school, I was ready to commit to Georgia. I surprised the recruiters when I went to visit TCU and that swayed me, having my brother there.

In college, they take their practice very seriously. Everything is arranged and scheduled, so you just go out and do it. But it's a little different when you're on the road and you have to do it yourself and you have to do it week after week after week. Maybe one of them could have a good result one time, but to get ranked 200 in the world, you have to have 15 good results. You have to do it repeatedly. It is mental stamina, to not just have the level, but to be able to repeat it over and over.

Tennis Acumen: Okay. I'm hearing the same thing from both you and Tennys Sandgren.

Nick Chappell: Yes, definitely.

COLLEGE TO THE PROS (PART TWO OF TWO)

Tennis Acumen had an exclusive interview with Tennys Sandgren at the Columbus, Ohio Fall 2022 Challenger.  Here’s part of that conversation.

(photo credit: Karl Corbett)

TA:  The business aspect, the logistics, going from college, where everything is done for you, to going out completely on your own. How did that work for you?

Tennys Sandgren: At college, they take care of everything. They take care of the travel arrangements, hotel, food,  training times. All your schedules are laid out for you.. It suits my personality that I take responsibility for those things and to not lose your way. But it's an added burden. You've got to think about that stuff. It's not fun to lose on a Tuesday, then try to make travel arrangements to go play in the next tournament. And sometimes there are difficult travel arrangements and it's challenging and it's not fun.

TA: Did you get used to it fairly quickly?

Tennys Sandgren: As a pro? Well, my first three or four years, a lot of it was in the States, so a lot of it was driving, a lot of it. I used to get in the car and go drive to the next match, which is nice. I like to drive. So, it's, it's not a bad thing. I would much rather drive than fly, that's for sure. Interesting.

TA: Moving from college to the pros, and the experience of being part of a team versus all of a sudden going out on your own, what was that transition like?

Tennys Sandgren: Actually, the tour is easier for me. I like playing on a team, but one of the things that I love about tennis is that it is just you, on your own. And so, it's more natural for me to play this sport on my own, but team sports are great. And playing tennis when it's in a team format is great. But I like the solace of playing tennis on your own, on your own side and doing your own thing.

TA: Interesting. And talk about crowds in terms of college, I imagine you have more audience than you do in the Futures and the Challengers. How is that different, to step out and make the change and there's no support there.

Tennys Sandgren: It's a challenge to pick yourself up day in, day out without much of the crowd you are accustomed to. You might have three or four hundred people watching your stream, but that's not people, being there, eyes on you. When something is observed, it changes, the thing literally changes. And so, when you're being observed and observed by a lot of people, it changes how you go about things on the court. And here at the Challengers, everybody knows it's being streamed, but it's not the same thing.

This interview is broken into four different ‘quick reads’ that will be posted here over time.

Photo of the Day: Tennys Sandgren

Just turned 22, American tennis player Tennys Sandgren caught our eye at the 2013 Lexington, Kentucky Challenger event. 

He qualified into the tournament on his birthday, ranked at # 253 in the world. Read our exclusive 2019 interview with Tennys Sandgren here: (LINK)

tennyssandgren

 

FROM COLLEGE TENNIS TO THE PRO TOUR (PART ONE OF TWO)

Tennis Acumen (TA): Tennis Acumen here at the Columbus Fall Challenger 2022 with Tennys Sandgren.

(photo credit: Karl Corbett)

TA: Sang, it has been a while. Nice to see you again. I'm doing I'm doing a series on college players that turn pro. So, I would like to ask you to just step back in your memory. Give me anything you can about the differences between the college and the professional tour. You know, just hold forth on the transition. I'd love to hear it.

Tennys Sandgren: Well, the level of play isn't much different. There's a couple of things that I always notice when I practice with the  college guys at MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University). The Tennessee State guys are good. They're not highly ranked college players and they're good players. But do they  know what happens when the points get going? One difference between college and the tour is court position. In college, court position stays pretty deep in the court. Nobody's particularly great at taking the angles by moving forward....   and second, there's  just the level of drop off in matches. You see ebbs and flows in matches and you see college players, when they're not at their top form, and stay off track for a game or two. With the high-level pro guys, there are only very small windows, maybe just a minute here and there, and they are back to top form. College guys can take a set hiatus, they can go down a break in the first set, and that might be the day. So, it's just that mental flexibility,  bend but not break and it's all about that level of concentration. You know, everybody has different levels of ability. And you're out there for 2 hours, 3 hours. It's a long time to stay focused. It's a long time to keep your mental energy up, to stay energized. It's a skill in and of itself: How well can you actually stay focused on the task at hand and how long does your mind drift? Do you get negative? Do you not believe in yourself? How long does that happen? Because you're not at your best when that's happening. So that's another thing that’s just different from the tour. It's not like the level of play is worse. It's just little factors that come into play when you're playing matches that really make a big difference.

This interview is broken into four different ‘quick reads’ that will be posted here over time.

Getting to Know Rinky Hijikata:

Tennis Acumen at the  Columbus Fall Challenger 2022. And we are here with Rinky Hijikata, from Australia.

(photo credit: University of North Carolina)

Tennis Acumen: Rinky, what are some of your favorite cities on the tour?

Rinky Hijikata: Favorite cities? I do love London. I love New York City. Anytime I get back home to Sydney, it's great. I love playing anywhere in Japan as well.

Tennis Acumen: Favorite bands, favorite music?

Rinky Hijikata: Favorite music. I like Kalid, the singer. I'm a big fan of his. I like Eminem. I really I like Jake Hull.

Tennis Acumen: Excellent. Favorite movies?

Rinky Hijikata: Favorite movie? Inception. It's a good one. I love Inception. Shutter Island. Anything of DiCaprio's. I like him, so I like a lot of his movies.

Tennis Acumen: Favorite restaurants?

Rinky Hijikata: In and Out Burger, the burger chain. If I am going to have a cheat day, you know? .

Tennis Acumen: That's great. Now you're having friends over and you're cooking dinner. What's your ‘go to’ meal?

Rinky Hijikata: I'm not a very good cook, so I don't know. I don't know if I even have a 'go to meal I could set out for my friends'. I'd probably just order takeout.

Tennis Acumen: You're not the first person to say that.

 

(This exclusive interview has generated seven ‘quick read’ excerpts, to be posted at tennisacumen.com over time.)

NICK CHAPPELL: FAVORITE CITIES ON THE TOUR

This is one of twelve excerpts from an exclusive interview with Nick Chappell at the 2022 Columbus Fall Challenger. They will be posted over time in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Tennis Acumen: You mentioned different countries, different cities. What are some of your favorite cities on the tour?

Nick Chappell: Los Cabos, in Mexico, is great. Earlier this year, and that tournament was only my second ATP tournament. It was my first appearance in a main draw, and I qualified for it. The tournament was really well run. All the matches were at night, so it had a really fun environment. A lot of people coming out after work just to watch. After that I went to Lima, Peru for a Challenger. The tournament was just standard, nothing special about it. But the city was really cool, with really healthy food. Food is really big with me and that made the whole trip. My girlfriend even got to come with me. But I really liked Mexico City when I was here in April of this year. Oh, yes. That was really best of both worlds. Really fun tournament plus a really cool city.

Tennis Acumen: You got to do some sightseeing.

Nick Chappell: Yes. Honestly, all the Challengers I've played in Mexico have been among my favorite tournaments. Puerto Vallarta was another one. That was an unbelievable tournament. It was just a huge party atmosphere, and they got a lot of people out, which is something I really enjoyed.

Tennis Acumen: So, you love the crowd.

Nick Chappell: Yes, I do. I've really enjoyed traveling in Europe as well. I played quite a bit in Europe. Usually in the summer I would go to Europe for a couple of months. This year, since there were more tournaments in South America and in the US, I just stayed in the US. But typically, I've gone a couple of summers, played in France and really enjoyed that. I played some Challengers, one or two Futures and even played club matches there. France was the most fun place I've played tennis, actually, because the people really appreciate good tennis. It's just really nice to play in France.

Photo of the Day: Alexander Zverev

In 2019, German ace Alexander Zverev came into the Cincinnati Masters tournament on a roll. He made it to the quarterfinals in Montreal, just the week prior. Here, his luck ran out, as he lost his second round match to Novak Djokovic’s hitting partner, Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, in three sets.

photo credit: Karl Corbett, (c) Tennis Acumen

NICK CHAPPELL: THE JOURNEYMAN

This is one of twelve excerpts from an exclusive interview with Nick Chappell at the 2022 Columbus Fall Challenger.

They will be posted over time in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Tennis Acumen: Would you describe yourself as a journeyman? Is there a better term for a road warrior like yourself?

Nick Chappell: I don't know if there's a better term (laughs). I think just “a very good tennis player” is a better term. People don't understand how good guys ranked 100 or 200 or even 300 are.

Tennis Acumen: I was Talking to Tennys Sandgren yesterday he said the difference between college and the pros is not so much the skill, the strength or the stamina. It's mental focus.

Nick Chappell: Yes. I would agree with that.

Tennis Acumen: Does that make sense to you ?

Nick Chappell: I see it all the time now. I'm practicing with TCU whenever I'm home. And they're very, very good. Last year, they were number one, the country's top program. They have some high highly regarded players, good recruits. When I'm practicing with them, I can't really tell the difference between them and the guys I'm competing against here on the Challenger tour. But mental stamina, I think is the big difference.

Tennis Acumen: You certainly have some focus. Just watching you play today, you have incredible variety to your shots and, pretty well spot on consistency. It was fun watching you out there.

Photo of the Day: Maria versus Sharapova

Dateline: Melbourne, Australia, January 16, 2018

One of our favorite score lines of all time. In 2018 at the Australian Open,  Tatjana Maria faced Maria Sharapova in the first round.  This created an interesting display on scoreboards in the stadium and around the world.

 

 

Photo of the Day: Andrey Rublev

Andrey Rublev fights off a shot to the body, and loses his first-round  match in Cincinnati, 2018. Kei Nishikori won the contest, 7-5, 6-3. Rublev’s  world ranking dropped from #38 to #71, as he dropped points from the US Open in 2017, where he reached the quarterfinals. At this posting, Rublev has just made it in to the top 10 for the first time.

photo credit: Karl Corbett (c) Tennis Acumen

Halep & Tsitsipas Exit US Open Immediately

PETE ZIEBRON

 

Simona Halep, the #7 seed in the women's draw and Stefanos Tsitsipas, #4 seed in the men's draw each lost their first match at the 2022 US Open.

For Halep, it was the third time in her last five appearances in New York that she lost her opening match.  The Romanian who won the title in Montreal a few weeks ago, was taken out by world #124 Daria Snigur of Ukraine.  The Qualifier rebounded from a bagel set in the match to win 6-2 0-6 6-4.  Halep reached the US Open semifinals in 2015.  Thus, Snigur has now defeated two former US Open semifinalists in four matches, as she also beat Yanina Wickmayer in the second round of qualification.  Wickmayer advanced to the semis in 2009, losing to Caroline Wozniacki.

Tsitsipas also lost to a Qualifier, world # 94 Daniel Galan of Columbia, who was making his first appearance at the US Open.  Galan won the opening nine games of the match and raced to a 6-0 6-1 3-6 7-5 victory.  The Greek was a Finalist in Cincinnati and defeated world #1 Daniil Medvedev en route to the final.  Tsitsipas, who stated in press that he played like an amateur, has never advanced past the third round in New York in five appearances.

 

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Carlos Alcaraz Again Loses in A Clay Court Final - Back to Back Weeks

PETE ZIEBRON

All of the sudden, Carlos Alcaraz looks human.  In back to back weeks, he lost in the Final - today in Umag and last week in Hamburg.  

Earlier this year, the young Spaniard has collected two Masters 1000 titles, as well as a 500 and a 250.  En route to winning in Madrid, he defeated: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev.

One might seriously question the fact that Alcaraz is playing clay tournaments in Europe concurrent to hard court events being contested in the United States.  Roland Garros concluded nearly two months ago, yet here is Alcaraz playing on clay.  Sure, he won the Miami Masters and reached the semis at Indian Wells, so he can compete and win on hard courts.

Nick Kyrgios and a slew of Aussies and played Atlanta this week and will then proceed to Washington this week to properly prepare for the US Open.  Alcaraz and his team must feel that playing the Masters events in Canada and Cincinnati will be enough to get ready for the final major of the year.  The world #5 lost in the 3rd round at the Australian Open, in the quarters at Roland Garros and in the 4th round at Wimbledon.   Best of five is certainly a different beast compared to playing and winning five rounds of a best of three Masters event.

Last week, Alcaraz cruised into the Final and was fortunate to win the second set against Italian Lorenzo Musetti before dropping the deciding set 4-6. in Hamburg.  Today in Umag, another Italian, Jannik Sinner, who defeated Alcaraz at Wimbledon, lost just two games in the final two sets to win 6-7(5) 6-1 6-1 to win his first title on clay.  Alcaraz, yet again had luck on his side when he won the opening set.

Following the match and before the trophy presentation, Alcaraz sat in his chair and looked flummoxed, wondering why he again was not able to win a final.  Coach Juan Carlos Ferrero will have some work to do between now and Canada.

Evan King: End Game

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: At what point do you say: “I'm done playing tennis.”?

Evan King: I think when I stop feeling that I can improve. I reached, I think, #185 in the world a couple of years ago, late 2018. And then my singles ranking was going down. When I decided to stop, I was about #380 and my doubles ranking was still # 130. So, I'm pretty good at this. Let's see if I can crack top hundred or top 70. This is my first year of focusing solely on doubles. I want to see how that goes. I have had some ups and downs, some good results, some poor results. Next year, I’ll try to use what I have learned and make a couple of better decisions and play better moments. It is a different scoring system with no-ad and ten-point tiebreakers. Picking partners, finding what skill sets you match with and see what people that you match with. Because you have to vibe as a person and get along, strategize, all that kind of stuff.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: I've heard it said that playing doubles can be a bit like a marriage.

Evan King: Yeah, totally. you spend a ton of time together. You are traveling together; you're practicing every single day together. You're eating majority of meals together unless you don't like each other. it is a ton of time together, so you need to know what makes each other tick. If I feel I plateaued at a ranking or get stalled at a prize money that's not sustainable to live on, then I will stop. There are things I can definitely improve on. There's more that I can learn. So, until that happens, I'll keep it going.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @EvanKingChicago

J. J. Wolf: Dealing with Crowds

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American J. J. Wolf at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: So how much does a crowd affect you?

J. J. Wolf: I love the energy of the crowd. It was tough last year with no fans. And this year, sometimes limited fans But, coming from college tournaments, you love the energy, whether it's positive or negative.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Cincinnati this year, 2021, was the first full attendance tournament, right? We were out there 10 days. Just loving it. That's your home town, and mine. It was good. So the crowd does affect you?

J. J. Wolf: Yeah, for sure. They could definitely pull you through matches.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: If someone were intent on badgering you or distracting you, would that get to you as well?

J. J. Wolf: I always play a little better when people are getting at me like that. You pick that up in college. I'd say I come from a pretty competitive family, so we all have got that a little bit. I had that in other sports growing up much more than in tennis. So, you don't get the worst of it in our sport here.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: People will love to hear this. A lot of fans want to know the person behind the player. If there's one thing you would want people to know about you, what might that be?

J. J. Wolf: About me? I guess I'm a pretty simple guy. I love my friends and family and I love this country, and I pretty much try to do my best every time I can.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @jjwolf5

J. J. Wolf: Winning and Losing

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American J. J. Wolf at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: That's well said. Last year, we talked about the fact that some guys absolutely loved to win, so they're just obsessed with it, while some guys try to avoid losing. Is it winning or avoiding a loss that's more important to you?

J. J. Wolf: Oh, it's a hard question. I don't really think about it too much on the court. I'm just real competitive, so obviously I love to win. But, I'm not afraid of losing. Every time you lose a match, it's a chance to look at what you did wrong and what you can improve on. So, I think it's a good thing, really. There's going to be a lot of losing. If you play pro tennis, you get used to it.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Do you "watch film", as they say?

J. J. Wolf: Yeah, I'll watch every match I play after I play it, whether I win or lose.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: And what do you gain from that? I'm trying to get inside the mind of a professional tennis player,.

J. J. Wolf: I'm extremely visual, so it's good for me to see what it looks like from the outside. It's really hard to see what your ball even looks like while you're hitting it. I talk to coaches who will tell me: “You don't have to hit the ball so crazy hard.” Maybe I don't think I'm hitting it any harder than the guy I'm playing against. So, then I go and watch the film and I'm saying: “That forehand might have been one hundred and five miles an hour. Why did I hit it that hard?” Because it looks cool, but I probably don't need to do that.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: So that's part of your discipline. After a match, you watch a video recording. Do you watch with a coach or just on your own?

J. J. Wolf: That can vary, sometimes with a coach, sometimes without. Sometimes we'll watch separately and then come back together and talk about what we thought.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @jjwolf5

Aleks Vukic: Winning and Losing

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed Australian Aleks Vukic at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: There's a spectrum. You see guys that just absolutely love to win and guys that hate to lose. There's a different set of motivations here.

Aleks Vukic: I think my feeling of losing is definitely stronger than my feeling of winning. I get more affected by a loss than I do a win. But I love to win, but I get hurt more when I lose, and I'm happier when I win, if that makes sense.

 

Tennis Acumen: It's very hard to understand that, because there are  32 guys in the draw here, 31 of them are going to lose by the end of the week. And no one likes to lose. How do you rebound from that?

Aleks Vukic: Oh, it's nonstop. I think I'm getting better at that, but it's one of those. You got to have a short-term memory when it comes to that and learn from it, but then just focus on the next week. That's the best thing about tennis. There is a tournament next week, and you can do great things there. So, it's just forgetting about it and just keep going with a long-term vision of where you see yourself going.

 

Tennis Acumen: I'll tell you a story. The Challenger in Savannah a couple of years ago, Reilly Opelka, who was just up and coming. No one had ever heard of him. He comes off court. He's just suffered a loss, sits down next to me and he's just shaking. He's so upset. He can't stand it. And I said: ”Reilly, if you don't play guys that can beat you, you'll never get any better.” And I could just see a weight come off his shoulders. I don't think he's hated losing as much since then.

Aleks Vukic: Yeah, yeah, definitely short-term memory. And then move on.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: aleks.vukic, Vuki_SMASH23

 

Injury Timeout: Socks and Sock

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: I said I'd tell you a story, Evan. Now, my wife and I are just crazy tennis fans. This would be July 2013 in Winnetka, OK? Semifinals. Jack Sock and Somdev Devaarman. Jack's hip is not working, OK? It is absolutely not working. He somehow takes the first set, he's down in the second, and it's all about to fall apart. He gets an equipment time out because his socks were wet.

Evan King: Interesting. Socks and Sock. Yeah, that's good.

 

Tennis Acumen: He goes over to the clubhouse. Have you been to Winnetka?

Evan King: Yes. So, it’s a short walk from center court over to the clubhouse.

 

Tennis Acumen: 20 minutes later, Jack has not come back yet, and Somdev is going mad.

Evan King: Oh, furious. Yeah, for sure.

 

Tennis Acumen: Somehow, Jack gets into the third set. It's four all, and he just can't move. So Somdev is serving at 4-4. Jack just takes four serves. He just stands there, and he doesn’t even move. Somdev serves at 5-5. Jack takes four more serves. He saved what little he had for his service games. Oh, and he managed to claw his way through and win the tiebreak.

Evan King: That's impressive.

 

Tennis Acumen: And he was exhausted.

Evan King: Yeah. And that's summertime, too.

 

Tennis Acumen: The crowd is gone, the line judges leave, Somdev is gone and there's nobody in the stands. Jack is still sitting in that chair, just exhausted. I just walked on court to Jack, patted him on the shoulder and said: “That was gritty, Jack, just gritty.”

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @EvanKingChicago

French Open 2022 quarterfinal expert picks: Djokovic vs. Nadal

This article originally appeared on The Grandstand.

Photo credit: New York Times

Expert picks are back on Tuesday for the French Open quarterfinal clash between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. A three-team panel previews the highly-anticipated action and makes its predictions.

Ricky Dimon: Nadal is coming off a five-set slugfest against Felix Auger-Aliassime. I don’t think that’s the worst thing in the world because it means the Spaniard is battle tested and he also looked good physically throughout that match while also playing at a consistently high level. I actually think it could help him in the early stages against Djokovic. In the long run, though, Djokovic’s full tank should come in handy for what will surely be a physical fight. The Serb wore down Nadal in last year’s quarterfinals and I think he can do the same again. Nighttime conditions won’t help the 13-time champion, either. Nadal is too good in Paris and playing too well right now to get blown out, but pretty much all signs are pointing toward Djokovic. Djokovic in 4: 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.

Cheryl Murray: Djokovic and Nadal will meet for the 59th time on Tuesday. It’s absurd, really–absurd that the two GOATs are contemporaries, ridiculous that they have smashed into each other almost 60 times. But perhaps the most unbelievable aspect in the most prolific rivalry of all time is each man’s consistent ability to find their way to the business end of tournaments they enter. It’s not like they bump into each other in the third round. Nope. They have never met prior to the quarterfinals in a “regular” (not Davis Cup or year-end championship) tournament…. Not once…in 59 meetings. It’s just…yeah. I get a bit misty-eyed each time they run into each other. It goes beyond special. It is completely unique to them, a narrative told in intimate detail for 16 years, offering the world a first hand look at wild joy and bitter disappointment, elation and agony, brilliance and baffled frustration. They are warriors locked in a battle of attrition that goes one way, then the other, then back again. And each time they add a chapter to their story I wonder if I’m watching them for the last time. Djokovic probably has the edge this time–even though it’s on clay and even though it’s at Roland Garros. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t doubt Nadal’s abilities or his will. I know well enough that he understands how to win in Paris better than any human ever has. But the injuries have been so disruptive, I just don’t think he’s match tough enough to get past Djokovic. He’ll give it everything he has, though; that you can be sure of. Djokovic in 5: 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-5.

Pete Ziebron (Tennis Acumen): Djokovic will be slightly fresher after making quick work of all four opponents so far, while Nadal had to go the distance in the previous round against Auger-Aliassime. In fact, the Serb has won 22 consecutive sets on clay–having corrected course after falling to Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid semis and then rolling through the field at the Rome Masters. Nadal arrived in Paris without a clay title this year and in serious pain less than two weeks prior to the start of the French Open. Nonetheless, he has once again found a way to recover and excel on the terre battue to set up this clash. The Mallorcan will need to clean up his break-point conversion significantly from the 6-for-22 performance in the last round. Meanwhile, Djokovic is serving immaculately–hitting just two double-faults in four matches. Both sets of stats are in the past, however, and are rendered meaningless once the court is taken in this highly anticipated quarterfinal. Look for Nadal to win a few more of the bigger points in the match. Nadal in 5: 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

Evan King: College to Pro Tennis

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Photo credit: University of Michigan

Tennis Acumen: Making the change from college to professional. I've heard guys say that first off, the level of play and competition goes up and the crowd size and support goes down. Is that your experience?

Evan King: I wouldn't so much say about the level of play. If you play near the top of your lineup in college, that's more or less the same levels as Futures. Unless you have a bunch of wild cards going in, you're going to start at Futures. Crowds are different, certainly. At the University of Michigan matches, you will have more than just tennis fans. You'll have fans of the university that want to support Michigan athletics. The same person will go watch tennis, softball, hockey, volleyball just because they love University of Michigan. For people to go out to these tournaments (Challenger level), they have to love tennis or a specific player to come out. So, it's two interesting dynamics. When you're playing in college, you're playing for university, your teammates and coaches, the people that you're practicing with every day. You have the bigger crowds behind you. When you turn pro, you're playing for yourself. As you go up to the Challenger circuit, the level of play is better than the college level, for the most part. Beyond that, you have the ATP circuit. When you're out as a professional, you have to muster up your own energy. You have to back yourself because unless you have the money to hire a coach or physio or a team behind you, you're out there alone. I would say that's the most difficult part. You have to hold yourself more accountable because there's not a coach on you. You're not representing the other six people on your team. If I lay an egg during a college match, I affect everybody else. The university, the coaches, the athletic department, everybody. I'm letting a whole bunch of people down. If I lay an egg on the pro circuit, I'm only letting myself down. So, it's a different kind of energy, different pressure and a high enough standard where, letting yourself down is the same as letting other people down.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @EvanKingChicago

Stefanos Tsitsipas - Forgotten Man in Bottom Half of 2022 Roland Garros Draw

PETE ZIEBRON

So much outrage was hurled at Roland Garros when the men's draw was announced.  How dare they place Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the same quarter.  Next, why is Carlos Alcaraz in the same half as Djokovic and Nadal?  Like Roland Garros rigged the draw...... uh, no, that does not happen.  Nadal is the 5th seed so there was a 25% chance that he would end up in the Djokovic quarter.  Bingo.

Meanwhile, last year's French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas will have a barn-burner to begin his tournament.  Right out of the gate, the Greek faces Lorenzo Musetti.  All he happened to do last year in Paris was march into the round of 16 and take a two sets to love lead over Djokovic, the eventual Champion, before cramping took over and he won just one more game before retiring 0-4 down in the 5th set.  Just two weeks prior to the start of the French, Musetti faced Tsitsipas in the Lyon semifinals and took the opening set 6-4 before the Greek won 12 of the last 15 games to advance to the Final.

The Italian has not matched the form he showed one year ago in Paris.  He arrives with 14 clay court matches played this year.  In March, I had a front row Center Court vantage point for his match against American JJ Wolf at the Phoenix Challenger.  Despite winning just 5 games in the 2nd round match, I liked what I saw, namely his movement and fluidity on court as well as the ability to switch from defense to offense.

Tsitsipas had very good results at the clay court Masters, winning Monte-Carlo, reaching the semis in Madrid and the final in Rome.  However, the first coupe of days at the French have illustrated that solid match play and form at the events leading up to the tournament have not necessarily resulted in a replication of such play at this major from those who have lost and struggled to win their opening match.

While nearly everyone in the world is watching Djokovic, Nadal and Alcaraz, I prefer to focus on Tsitsipas and especially his opening match against Musetti.  Tsitsipas has won 11 of his last 13 matches at Roland Garros and 14 of his last 17 - his only losses:

 

2021 Final vs. Djokovic  76(6) 62 36 26 46

2020 Semi Final vs. Djokovic  36 26 74 64 16

2019 R16 vs. Wawrinka  67(6) 75 46 63 68

 

 

 

 

 

 

J. J. Wolf: How Hard Can It Be?

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American J. J. Wolf at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: You love this game, don't you?

J. J. Wolf: Yeah, it's a great game. It can be really difficult sometimes, but it's a good game.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Well, it is hard, you know? Did anybody in your family ever tell you how hard this was going to be?

J. J. Wolf: I grew up knowing how hard it was going to be. It's definitely a good challenge to have. My family has played so many sports. A couple of them have played pro tennis before. But I always thought it was a cool experience to play. With family members playing and coaching in professional sports, I got a lot of advice on how difficult and how much commitment it would take. It has really set in more recently, out with the tour. I’ve been rolling with it. I just never really thought about it too much. Taking that step back and being out for nine months really made me realize how much I have to take care of my body and how much commitment it will take to stay healthy and play this rigorous calendar year. It’s 10 or 11 months out of the year you're playing.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: I talked to Evan King just now. He obviously was not at 100 percent yesterday, and he just gutted it through. I told him it was just agonizing to watch, given that there were times he was sharp, clear eyed and his body did not want to do what his mind told it to do. What's it like to play when you're hurting?

J. J. Wolf: What I've been told is pain is either remembered or anticipated, and suffering is optional. I just try to think of it as not a bad thing all the time, as long as I'm not going to hurt myself worse, you know. Pain is either remembered or anticipated. It's never right in the moment. So, you choose whether you want to suffer with it or not.

Tennis Acumen: I never heard anything like that.

J. J. Wolf: When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. But it really, really annoyed me at first, when I'm hurting out there and they're telling me, you can choose whether to suffer or not. And then, I wrap my mind around it and I say: “All right, let's do it.” It's really tough coming back from those three surgeries. It was not exactly easy going when I was coming back. A lot of pain going on, but you kind of embrace it a little bit.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: So no one can really tell you, if you're out on court and hurting, whether you're about to do damage or not, whether you should retire. How do you make those calls? You don't have very many retirements in your career at all, do you?

J. J. Wolf: No, I haven't. I was playing with a double hernia for four or five tournaments last year. A doctor came to me and told me that, after a match when I was in Europe. Then I came back to the U.S. and they said: “We have to do surgery on this. We don't know how you're walking normally.” At this point, I've got great people on my team, so I've got a great trainer and physio and P.T. back home that I'll just trust. I'll tell them what's going on. They'll analyze it. And if they say I need to get scans or anything like that, I'll listen to them. If they think I'm good to go, I pretty much trust them on that. And if it’s hurting, it's hurting, it's whatever.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @jjwolf5

Evan King: How Hard Can it Be?

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: Did anyone in your family tell you how hard this was going to be?

Evan King: No, I don't think anyone truly knew. I had good coaches around me ever since juniors, and all through college and afterwards. That prepared me for what I had to expect moving from college to professional play. It is all very different, because as a pro, I am my own manager. I do the flights and travel, stringing my rackets, all that kind of stuff, whereas in college, all that stuff is done for you. You just give somebody a racket and the next day, it's done. You're told to meet at the tennis center. We're going to the airport at this time. It's all done for you. So, as far as all the things outside of tennis, I did not know how difficult that would be. But the level of play was not too much of a jump. Top level college and professional are similar, it's just all the other stuff you have to deal with that you don't have a team around you help with. I think is pretty difficult.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: There seems to be this incredible network around recruiting and grading: ‘star rankings’ for players when they're juniors. Were you aware of all of that as you were being recruited and asked to play at Michigan?

Evan King: Yes, I was aware of it. I wasn't obsessive about it. I trusted my level of play, my reputation as a person and those kinds of things more so than being a five star or a blue chip. Now, they have the Universal Tennis Ranking which coaches go off of and then those things do matter. But it wasn't going into a match thinking: “I'm playing a five star. I really need to get this match, so I can get Michigan to look at me.” I was more worried about my own development and my personal goals, as a junior. I did want to go pro. So, I was I was more thinking about that kind progression, more so than worrying about the immediate results or ratings or rankings. I was thinking more long term, which helped me put less pressure on myself.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @EvanKingChicago

Aleks Vukic: Grinding it Out

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed Australian Aleks Vukic at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Photo credit: The Australian

Tennis Acumen: Let's go back to the very beginning. When you woke up this morning, I talked to a guy who  played in the NFL. He was a linesman on a Super Bowl team, and I asked him one day: “Hey, Doug, what's the hardest part of playing in the NFL? Is it fourth down and 20 yards to go with the game on the line?” And he told me: “It's summer, getting up every day, doing the same drills over and over. That’s the hard part.” Aleks, how do you deal with that routine and does it become a grind somehow?

 

Aleks Vukic: I think it can, every stage in every tournament, it's different. So this is my last tournament, the very last month of the year, so I'm very well aware that it is my last tournament. It's very easy for me to push through this week. I know it's one last week and I can give it my all. This is my fourth week in a row. I played Vegas to start this swing. Yeah, it's a different mindset to set out for four weeks, and I'm looking at finishing strong the last four weeks. It's just a matter of breaking things up. Sometimes, you need a few weeks off to recharge, not think about your goals so much. Enjoy life. Otherwise, if it becomes very monotonous. Spice it up in a different way. Have a clear perspective on the next few weeks and then recharge and do it again. It never becomes stale, because I’ll have different goals for different weeks, a different mentality for different weeks.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: So you're not waking up in January saying: “Oh, my God. Thirty six weeks to go.” You break it down into smaller pieces, focusing on those.

Aleks Vukic: I'll take a break for a week and then I'll focus on the next swing and recharge, because otherwise it's too long and you're not present.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Any advice for younger players coming up?

Aleks Vukic: Guys that want to be pro? Yeah. Go easy on yourself. There's a lot of pressure and there's a lot of work to do, but surround yourself with positive people. Know there's more to life in tennis, and it is a journey, it's not about the end result. And whether you win or not, it's just about getting better each day. Winning will come if you're in the right mindset, that's what I believe. If they can stay in the right mindset and be positive, do the right things, then good things happen, for sure.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: aleks.vukic, Vuki_SMASH23

 

Photo of the Day: Fernando Gonzales

Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi, born 29 July 1980, is a former professional tennis player from Chile. During his career he made it to the quarterfinal round of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He played his only major final at the 2007 Australian Open, losing to top-seeded Roger Federer.

 He is the fourth male tennis player in history to have won each Olympic medal (gold in doubles and bronze in singles at Athens 2004, and silver in singles at Beijing 2008).

In 2005, Gonzales had a nice run at the Cincinnati masters event, defeating Novak Djokovic and David Nalbandian on his way to a third-round loss against Nikolai Davydenko.

Photo credit: Karl Corbett, © 2021 Tennis Acumen

Evan King: World Team Tennis

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: And you have played World Team Tennis. Tell me about that. I've never, never talked to a World Team Tennis player.

Evan King: That's a lot of fun. it brings a team aspect back. I will say one of the biggest things about tennis as an individual sport is that rarely when you practice with somebody, do you want the person that you're practicing with to get better. In World Team Tennis I'm practicing with my teammates. If they're playing well, the team does well, we do better. We win more matches, all that kind of stuff. If I'm playing a practice set against other pros out here, I want to beat them. I don't care how their practice goes because I want to do the best I can do. If they're playing well, they can potentially beat me. That's not good, you know what I mean?

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Yes, it's super interesting.

Evan King: So, World Team Tennis is less pressure filled, and it is really a break in the season because, yes, tennis is an individual sport. You want to be number one, individually. At World Team Tennis, you all are coming together, men and women, singles players, doubles players all have a common goal. We all try to help each other out for those two or three weeks to get better. And, I mean, it's fun. There's music, it's a faster pace because they only play up to five and they have no-ad scoring. They play lets. So, they do little things that make it a bit more exciting and more fun. Coming together for a common goal in what's usually an individualistic sport is a pretty special thing. Yeah, I think it's fun.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @EvanKingChicago

Aleks Vukic: A Life Outside of Tennis

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed Australian Aleks Vukic at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: So, Aleks, when you have free time, how do you entertain yourself or feed yourself? On tour and off? you do a lot of reading, listen to music?

Aleks Vukic: At home in Australia, I'll just go out with mates, have dinner, see a different friend each day. When I'm on tour, it's a bit different. Depends on which one of my mates is out on tour that week. We’ll go and grab dinner. Then, I'll have some alone time towards the end of the day. I enjoy alone time. Surf some stuff on the internet and go to bed and do it again. My life is not entertaining when it comes to that. I really enjoy the simple things.

 

Tennis Acumen: How about music and TV shows?

Aleks Vukic: I like softer EDM (electronic dance music). Hayden James or something like that (Hayden James is an Australian DJ, songwriter and record producer from Sydney, Australia.) I like Aussie artists and more low-key music. I always look forward to Spotify when new music comes out, always try and give it a listen. I love music. I think it's a similar to food where it's like every day feeling something a little different. I listen to like Mumford and Sons some days, and it just depends on the mood.

 

Tennis Acumen: Favorite foods?

Aleks Vukic: When I go back home, my mom makes an unbelievable Spaghetti Bolognese, so I love that dish. I love pastas. I like a good burger as well.

 

Tennis Acumen: Now, if you're sitting at home and friends are coming over, what would you cook? What's your ‘go to’ meal?

Aleks Vukic: I'm not a great cook, so I probably wouldn't cook anything. I would. I probably just order pizza, to be honest, just straight up.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: aleks.vukic, Vuki_SMASH23

Tommy Robredo - 3 Memorable Tournaments

PETE ZIEBRON

A few weeks short of his 40th Birthday, Tommy Robredo will retire from professional tennis in Barcelona this week.

Three events in his career stood out to me as I look back at the Spaniard's career.

Robredo plays Cincinnati 2006 - Photo credit: Karl Corbett

Masters Series Hamburg 2006

Robredo took full advantage of the fact that both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer withdrew from the Masters Series event in Hamburg in 2006.  Nadal defeated Federer in the Rome Final in five hours and five minutes in five sets the day before Hamburg was to begin.  In 2006, first round BYES did not exist for the top eight seeds and concurrently, some events staged a best of five final.

As a result, Robredo, ranked 12th at the time defeated world number sixteen Radek Stepanek 6-1 6-3 6-3 to win his lone Masters Series title.  Prior to the final, Robredo dropped just one set, the opening set in the second round to Florent Serra of France.  He also defeated Mario Ancic in the semis and David Ferrer in the quarterfinals.

Roland Garros 2013

At the French Open in 2013, Tommy Robredo won three consecutive matches after trailing two sets to love!  Following a straight set win in the opening round over Jurgen Zopp of Estonia, Robredo dropped the first two sets in his second match against Igor Sljsling of the Netherlands before storming back and losing just five games to claim a 6-7 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-1 victory.

In the third round, Gael Monfils of France pocketed the first two sets when Robredo steadied his game to win 2-6 6-7 6-2 7-6 6-2 to advance to the round of sixteen.  Here, countryman Nicolas Almagro would again take a two sets to love lead before Tommy Robredo would ultimately prevail 6-7 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4.

Reaching the quarterfinals, Robredo had little left as world number five David Ferrer rolled to the semis with a 6-2 6-1 6-1 victory.

Cincinnati 2013

Later in 2013, I would witness a match that featured extended rally after extended rally on Court 9 , the sunken court in Cincinnati.

As I headed to the Robredo- Stan Wawrinka second round match, an announcement was broadcast in the press box that Marion Bartoli's press conference would be starting soon.  Odd, I thought, Bartoli lost her match earlier today.  Yes, she won Wimbledon a few weeks prior.

The evening match between Robredo and Wawrinka went back and forth and the Swiss saved seven of ten break points against.  The final scoreline was 7-5 3-6 6-3 in favor of Robredo.  

The match was especially memorable for me due to the high caliber of play as well as the magnificent setting of Court 9 (the old Court 3) in Cincinnati.  Those that have been fortunate to watch matches on this court know how truly special it is from a tennis perspective.  Ironically, Marion Bartoli's press conference was to announce that she was retiring form professional tennis immediately.

Tommy Robredo is a Wild Card at the ATP Barcelona 500 this week.  His opponent is a yet to be determined Qualifier.

 

 

 

Aleks Vukic: Getting Started

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed Australian Aleks Vukic at the Champaign Challenger tournament.

Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: All right, we're rolling. Nov. 16, Tennis Acumen in Champaign, Illinois at the 2021 Challenger event. With Aleks Vukic, from Australia. Aleks, one of the things our readers always want to know is how you got started in tennis. Tell me about that. When did you first discover the game?

Aleks Vukic: My brother, is six and a half years older than me, so he was playing and I was just picking up balls. He started when he was 11, so I must have been four and a half. And yeah, that's how I got into it. It was basically because of him. My parents didn't play any sports. He started playing and then I followed suit.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: When did you discover you loved it?

Aleks Vukic: Truly loved it? Probably when I got to college. I always liked it. Once I got to college, I really loved it, and that love grows every year I play. It started off slow because I was playing both tennis and soccer until 13. Only tennis now. 

 

 

Tennis Acumen: And how did you end up at the University of Illinois growing up in Sydney, Australia?

Aleks Vukic: I was in Florida playing a Futures tournament, and I was up against Jared Hiltzik. I played him and Brad Dancer, the coach here (at the University of Illinois) saw me. He said: “If you're interested in playing tennis at college, let us know.” After a few months on the pro tour, I realized I was not ready for it. I made the rounds at a few colleges and decided to come here.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: For a lot of years, I was a professional drummer. My mom was a musician, and when she saw me heading in that direction, she said: “You can do this.” But she told me how hard it was going to be. Did anyone ever tell you how hard it was going to be playing professionally, running your own affairs and all of that? Or did you have to discover that on your own?

Aleks Vukic: They told me it was harder to do a nine to five job. They said: “You would like this more.” And I said: “Fair enough.” I think you do a nine to five or something you don't really like, it's just too much. My parents kept telling me I just wouldn't like it and my parents know me best. So I trusted them.

 

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

 

Tags: aleks.vukic, @aleks.vukic, Vuki_SMASH23

 

Evan King: Getting Started

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: How did you get started playing tennis?

Evan King: For me, I was just born at a time when my dad was obsessed with the sport. Yeah, he was super, super into it. I've got an older brother who would take me around and just throw us balls, hit back and forth. I actually started playing a lot at the same club that Donald Young was playing at, as well. My brother's a little bit older than Donald. They grew up playing with each other and I was always around. So, I've been playing pretty much as long as I can remember. My family has videos and pictures of me as a toddler, just running around with a racket.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: So, it was a natural. When it came to going pro, did you get support from your family?

Evan King: Their big thing was for me to finish college, which I did. So, I graduated University of Michigan and then, after that, they supported me in terms of what I wanted to do. And as long as I had a degree, they thought it was worthwhile. And I had a good enough college career where it merited the ability to go pro.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: And so, they could see it was a reasonable thing to do.

Evan King: Yeah, for sure. So, they definitely had my back on it, which was awesome. And then pretty soon after, I was doing well enough where I was breaking even. I trained a lot at Michigan. I was a volunteer assistant when I wasn't on the road, I was teaching lessons there to pay for a lot of the stuff as well. So yeah, it was it was pretty cool.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @EvanKingChicago

 

Photo of the Day: Juan Martin del Potro

Delray Beach, Florida, Juan Martin del Potro.....

In 2016, following wrist surgery, the popular Argentine returned to tennis after 11 months.

He had surprising success, beating American Dennis Kudla, Aussie John-Patrick Smith and  Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, all in straight sets... . In his first semifinal since 2014, he fell to eventual champion Sam Querrey. Here. he signs an autograph for an appreciative fan.

  

J. J. Wolf: Highlights and Lowlights

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American J. J. Wolf at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: Any highlights or lowlights in this disrupted year?

J. J. Wolf: There have been a couple of both. Last year, I'd say one of the highlights was qualifying for the 2020 Cincinnati Masters. Even though it was in New York, it still really meant a lot to me. That and making the third round at the 2020 U.S. Open was pretty cool. This year, coming back from nine months off and a couple of surgeries, getting that fifth challenger title in Vegas meant a lot to me. But, I'm just working on my game a lot, not worrying about results too much.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: You pretty well have to be obsessive to be in this game professionally, right?

J. J. Wolf: Right.

Tennis Acumen: Going back to the beginning, waking up every morning and knowing you just got to do it one more day. How do you manage your hitting time, your sleep time, your meals? what's it like to keep the machine going every day?

J. J. Wolf: It's hard on the on the road, especially because you've got different match times. You don't really know exactly when you're going to play. It could be a morning match, afternoon or night match. And, every place you go is different, with different facilities. You have to figure out what works for you that week and create a routine. I've been trying to do that more. It was very hard during quarantine when you couldn't leave the hotels at tournaments. But now, I can go out and get breakfast and walk around, ease my mind. And not be thinking about tennis all the time. I am trying to take care of my body and not get away from the game too much like last year.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: So, in terms of diet, how strict are you, J.J.??

J. J. Wolf: I try to be pretty good about it. When I was coming back from the surgeries, I couldn't use my core really to do anything for about six months. So I was really strict with it. After coming back there, I probably let it go a little bit during my off time. But I got it back pretty quickly and got back into shape pretty fast, so I was lucky with that.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @jjwolf5

Evan King: Favorite Places on Tour

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: Well, that draws us right into favorite cities on the tour.

Evan King: I think Melbourne. I love Australia. Australia is awesome. So, Melbourne's good because there's no language barrier. Travel is a lot easier. I liked Taiwan as well. I had a really good experience in Taiwan. I thought the food was great. A lot of people came out, and they ran a really good event.

Tennis Acumen: Do you ever get time to really go and sightsee?

Evan King: It all depends on the result of the tournament. That would be an advantage of doing poorly in a tournament. I have more time off to actually see a place. But on a week where I'm winning matches, it's more so hotel and tennis courts. Maybe a couple of meals out, but then you don't actually get to sightsee. So, one of my bigger regrets was I spent two weeks in India in 2017. I didn't get to see anything and I've never been back. I've been to India, but I didn't experience India, I didn't actually get to travel around because the schedules just didn't allow for it. We go to some pretty cool places and very interesting places. Sometimes you do see them, sometimes you don't. If you ask five different players about travel, some people have more of a focus on: “I want to see the world.” Others have more of a focus on tennis, tennis, tennis, which both work, but different people have different philosophies on it.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: I asked Tennys Sandgren the same question. he said Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris is his ‘go to’ place. He finds that just the most stunning place. What would your ‘go to’ place be?

Evan King: Hmm, that's interesting. I don't know if I have an immediate one. I think it's more about people. If I'm traveling with people that I really get along with, regardless of where it is, I'll have a good time, be at peace and enjoy myself. It is more that than specific places.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: OK, that’s more a social point of view. And speaking of airports and hotels and cars, I worked as a rock drummer for a long time. You know, there are a lot of cities I never really saw. I can't say: “I've been there.” We just went to this hall and played four sets. Now the other thing about rock and roll, and this is where people get in trouble. Too much time on your hands. How do you deal with that? I mean, you're not going to get into excess or go off the deep end. But how do you handle the down time and the sheer boredom that can happen to you?

Evan King: You need another passion to fill your days. I'm really randomly into battle rap. There's something about guys creatively messing around with the English language that I really love. So, for me right now, I watch a ton of that. Tennis players, whether it's in juniors or college or pros, we're good at time management, filling time. A lot of it's stretching. I had my match yesterday. Yeah, I probably only played for two hours yesterday, an hour to warm up, so that leaves another 12 hours of being awake. A lot of stretching, lifting weights. Watch a little bit of film. That's something that I'm trying to do more of: just scouting opponents, scouting myself, trying to figure out ways I can be better and work on that. I know some people are taking classes online, I don't have a great answer for you on that for me because I'm not doing much productive outside of this.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Well, if you're working on your game, that's productive and if you have discipline behind you in that, it fills up the time.

Evan King: it's just a lot of recovery, whether it's physical or mental, especially now. At the end of the year, we've all been playing since January. Eleven months in, everything's a little bit achy. Mentally, you're a little bit fried. It's more so staying healthy, staying fresh as possible at this point in time, and for me, it's watching battle rap, that's just what I am into.

 

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @EvanKingChicago

Kudla vs. Wolf & Not Gasquet vs. Verdasco in SF at Arizona Tennis Classic

PETE ZIEBRON in PHOENIX

Following his win over Richard Gasquet, Denis Kudla stated on court that "This is the toughest Challenger in the world."  It is.  Four former Top Ten players were in the draw - three played in the Quarterfinals on Friday and all three lost.

On a gorgeous 77F sunny day at the Phoenix Country Club, Denis Kudla opened play on Center Court with a 6-3 6-4 win over Frenchman Richard Gasquet.  The American, who was born in Kiev, Ukraine, did not double fault all day, hit seven aces and saved the only break point against en route to victory.

Gasquet played competitive tennis throughout the match, however was distracted midway through the second set when an off-site garbage truck was doing its duty and creating a bit of a disturbance.  Gasquet was serving at 30-0 and on serve in the set when the  clanging of metal took place on and off for three minutes.  The yellow clad Gasquet was clearly agitated, lost the next few points and crushed a ball out of Center Court, costing him a ball abuse warning.  Kudla stood his ground and simply put balls back into play as the errors from Gasquet in this game led to the only break of the second set.  

Kudla protected his serve all day and arrives in the semifinals without dropping a set in the tournament.

Next up, American JJ Wolf matched up with Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.  Like Kudla, Wolf won his first two matches in straight sets.

Fernando Verdasco, 2010   (c) Tennis Acumen

Verdasco dropped the opening service game when a let cord winner by Wolf dropped just over the net.  He glared at his box in disbelief and disgust, however was able to get the break back three games later to square the set at 2-all.  That would be the only break he would manage as Wolf saved the next six the rest of the way.

Several long rallies throughout the match were on display as both players were digging deep.  Wolf created his own break point opportunities and capitalized on a large one as Verdasco served to stay in the opening set.  The Cincinnati native took the set, broke midway through the second set for the lead and concurrently staved off Verdasco's break point opportunities.

Gasquet and Verdasco played 15 times on the ATP Tour with Verdasco holding an 8-7 H2H mark.  It appeared that these former top ten players would meet yet again.  Kudla and Wolf would not be denied on this day and both arrive in the semifinals without dropping a set.

Later in the day, David Goffin, the third former top ten player to take Center Court on Friday, lost to Liam Broady of Great Britain.  Broady will play Daniel Altmaier of Germany, who defeated Radu Albot of Moldova to close out the day session.

Three Alternates and Wild Card JJ Wolf comprise the Arizona Tennis Classic Semifinals.  Four former top ten ATP players have been eliminated.  Denis Kudla is a man of his word.

 

David Goffin Advances to Quarters in Phoenix Challenger.

PETE ZIEBRON in PHOENIX

David Goffin at the Cincinnati Masters tournament, 2017 (c) Tennis Acumen

David Goffin closed out the second round at the Arizona Tennis Classic with a 7-6 3-6 6-4 win over American Wild Card Christopher Eubanks at the Phoenix Country Club.  The Belgian did not serve particularly well, hitting 12 double faults, however he was able to save 17 of 21 break points throughout the match.

Goffin is the #8 seed and is one of the few players that also played in the initial Arizona Tennis Classic in 2019, when he was the #1 seed.  Following the match, Goffin said that he was happy to get the win since the Eubanks serve often stretched him out wide as it was well placed in the corners.  Both players hit 10 aces and Goffin did well to block back the serve from the American which topped out in the low 130 mph range on the night.

Eubanks saved 3 of 6 break points and all three came in a game midway through the second set when he fell behind 0-40.  He rode that confidence in saving that particular game to win the middle set.  The former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket is threat on the ATP Tour.  On Wednesday, he defeated veteran Qualifier Gilles Simon 6-4 7-5.  Yesterday he certainly held his own against Goffin.  Both opponents are former Top Ten players.

Next up for Goffin is Liam Broady of Great Britain.  Broady has dropped just 8 games in his two straight set victories and was added to the Main Draw as an Alternate.  Goffin, meanwhile, has been taken to three sets in each of his first two matches in Phoenix.

 

 

Benoit Paire Dazzles Phoenix Crowd En Route to Straight Set Victory

PETE ZIEBRON in PHOENIX

Benoit Paire, far right playing cards with Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon as Nicolas Mahut observes.  Pete Ziebron Images

Benoit Paire, the #1 seed in the Arizona Tennis Classic $125K Challenger in Phoenix wasted absolutely no time putting on a show for spectators on Center Court on Wednesday night.  On the third point of the match, the crafty Frenchman hit an approach drop shot that had so much spin, that it then bounced back over Paire's side of the net before Emilio Nava had any chance to make a play on the ball.  That effort gave Paire a 40-0 lead, and he closed out the opening game a point later.

Later in the opening set, Paire hit an approach shot tweener - he lost that point but the crowd was thrilled.  Deep in the opening set and serving at 5-5 deuce, Paire hit another tweener to win the point.  Certainly a rather dangerous time to hit such a shot, however Paire was feeling loose all night.  He won that game, broke Nava to win the first set 7-5 and then won the first four games of the second set.

During this game, while serving at 4-0, Paire was not thrilled with some of the officiating and set his racquet on the baseline and walked halfway up the doubles alley to point to a mark where he felt the ball landed out.  Judging from Paire's hand gesture explanation and protest, the ball was at least three inches out.  Paire would be broken at that game and he then rocketed a ball out of the stadium and on to the adjacent golf course at the Phoenix Country Club.

Benoit Paire would hit a third tweener of the night later in the set and would advance to the second round with a 7-5 6-2 victory.

Earlier in the day, Center Court featured FOUR former top ten ATP players: Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet, David Goffin and Fernando Verdasco!  Keep in mind, this is a $125K Challenger event.  The Arizona Tennis Classic draw is certainly better than many ATP 250 events and nearly as good as some ATP 500 tournaments.  

This is why I fondly refer to the Arizona Tennis Classic as the Phoenix 375. 

In fact, the first match of the evening featured Emil Ruusuvouri of Finland against American Wild Card Brandon Nakashima.  This was a rematch of last year's Atlanta 250 Semifinal, won by the American.  This time, the Finn relied on a steady serve down the middle and consistently broke down the Nakashima backhand en route to a 6-3 6-3 win.

Regarding the former top ten players, all but Simon won their matches to advance to the second round on Thursday.  Paire will play Radu Albot of Moldova, Gasquet will open Thursday's action against Facundo Bagnis of Argentina and Goffin will play American Wild Card Christopher Eubanks who defeated Simon in straight sets on Wednesday.

Indian Wells may have Nick Kyrgios, however the Arizona Tennis Classic features Benoit Paire and his active tweener game.  What will Paire bring to the table today?

Evan King: Playing Hurt - Part 2 of 2

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: We’re talking about aches, pains and injuries, Evan.
You were not 100% physically. You're up 5-1 in the second set tiebreaker and it was painful to watch. Your mind is saying: “I've got this.” and your body is just saying: “Please, no.” You managed to win that set.

Evan King: Yes, now that was funny too, At the beginning of the third set, I was thinking OK, I've got some momentum. That's good. And no, that went away pretty quickly. I set foot on the court. I knew what I had in the tank. Go out there, compete. I saved a match point or two, which was good. I'm excited about that. But then I just did not have enough to get through it. Yeah, I'm still a little bit rattled from the match because obviously when you are a competitor, you go out there, you want to win. I wish I would've won, right?

 

 

Tennis Acumen: So how often are guys playing hurt?

Evan King: Hurt…. Hurt is a strong word. I would not consider myself hurt, less than 100 percent is different than being hurt. You don't play hurt.

Tennis Acumen: Because I've had guys tell me everybody's hurt all the time.

Evan King: I believe that, especially in November. No one's actually 100 percent. Maybe in January. I would hope so. In January, everyone's 100 percent because you have a month off. But in November, no one feels great. You just manage what you can, and you compete to the best of your ability with whatever you have on that day. There was a withdrawal earlier today. In singles he went into the match saying:”I know I have something going on, but I'm going to push it and see what I can get out of it.” And then the injury got aggravated. Maybe it went a little bit worse than he expected. And maybe there are some long-term issues that could happen if he kept playing or something like that. I have a lot of fatigue wear and tear from travel this season and everything, but I'm not hurt. That's a strong, strong word. I would not be in Champaign playing this event if I were hurt.

Tennis Acumen: Yeah, I appreciate the clarification there.

Evan King: Yeah, but it's more just wear and tear and crazy fatigue and yeah, just aches and pains and random things.

Tennis Acumen: It would be better said that everybody is playing ‘hurting’ rather than ‘hurt’.

Evan King: exactly. I would say that for sure.

 

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @EvanKingChicago

Evan King: Playing Hurt - Part 1 of 2

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: You were obviously not 100 percent physically yesterday. How do you push through?

Evan King: If you decide to start a match, you finish the match. I guess that's my code of honor, unless something is actually broken. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. As a professional, maybe I withdrew from one match. As you said, yesterday, I did not have my 100 percent.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: You know, I won't get into details on the injury itself. I'm just looking at the mindset and the spirit behind it. You were down a break early in the second set. Time to change ends, and you went off in the corner of the court and just sat on a stool. What was your thought process or what was going through your head?

Evan King: I was just trying to clear my mind and find some sort of peace because I was also frustrated that I was down a set and a break. Very frustrated. I needed to kind of be to myself. Find some peace. Try to get something out of the match. Whether it's a win, whether it's feeling good, whether it's executing certain things, just simplifying the game in my mind. I was taking it down to just a couple of shots I felt like I could execute extremely well. It was all mental, all regrouping and focusing in and really locking in for that moment.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: To be honest, Evan, it was agonizing watching the match because I could tell your mind wanted to do things and your body was saying: “Please stop. Please let me go.”

Evan King: It's a very frustrating part of tennis in general, but it's also interesting because I do focus on doubles now. My career is based off of doubles. It's making sure I stay ready for that as well. Win or lose on Tuesday, I knew I had to compete on Wednesday. Even working out for both of them is different. You use different skills when you're practicing for doubles and training for doubles rather than singles. There is playing and there is recovering. Played a match two days ago. In the second set, it got pretty physical. (King defeated Ruan Roelofse in a 24-point 2nd set tiebreak.) He was going through it too, though, because you can't say it was just me. I know my opponent was also feeling it physically as well. We all have issues we're going through, so we just try to compete and get through it.

Tennis Acumen: It was impressive, Evan.

Evan King: I appreciate that.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @EvanKingChicago

Aleks Vukic: Playing Hurt

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed Australian Aleks Vukic at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: Yeah, let me ask one more question. watching Evan King play yesterday, he was obviously not 100 percent.

Aleks Vukic: Mentally or physically?

 

Tennis Acumen: His body. He could not move. He could not get there. He was sharp, clear and he was asking his body to do certain things. And the body was just saying: “No, please stop.”

Aleks Vukic: Yeah, that’s tough when it feels like that.

 

Tennis Acumen: I asked him about that and I told him it was agonizing to watch. I mean, he got down a set, down a break, and instead of going to the bench, he just sat on a little stool in the back corner, on the baseline. I asked what was going through his mind.? He says: “Just trying to find some clarity. I was trying to simplify things.” We made a distinction between playing when you're hurt, which means you're injured and you shouldn't be on court and playing where you're hurting. How do you deal with playing when you're hurting?

Aleks Vukic: It's very tough, because you obviously you feel it. But he had the perfect mindset. That pain will end up going away. If you're hurt, you should stop because it can affect you. But if you're hurting, it's one of those. It's a temporary pain. It's just another obstacle that you have to go through. You see the guys that are doing really well, going deep in the tournament, they are, for sure, hurting mentally. And physically, they're not fresh. They have played more matches. I think it’s just trying to push through, trying to find a way to pump yourself up.

Tennis Acumen: Did you have any training or work with a sports psychologist on that issue?

Aleks Vukic: No, I haven't. But that is something that would definitely interest me. My coach is not here this week, but he's very good with that stuff. We talk about a lot about the mental game rather than the technical part of it, because people say it's 80 percent mental. I do believe it's around 90 to 95 percent, to be honest. Unless you're extremely talented, you need the hard work and need the mental capacity. And that's where you see a lot of guys make a career, just because they're mentally tough. They make a living purely because of that. And that's my goal is to do that as well.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: aleks.vukic, Vuki_SMASH23

Evan King: Grinding it Out

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: I want to go back to the point you woke up this morning. Look, just the grind of the tour, the travel, your sleep schedules. How do you manage all of that?

Evan King: it's an interesting balance for sure. Over the year, you're in a ton of different time zones, you're sleeping on at least fifty different beds. So, the mattress is different. The pillows, different. Places with air conditioning, with no air conditioning, with great showers, or terrible showers. all those different variables. I love the fact that my job is to chase a yellow ball around, and I have to remember that is my career and that's my job. And there are a lot of things that I could be doing that I don't want to do. And ultimately, I want to do this. I can't be happy go lucky when I'm out there competing, because I have to win. But it's a great career and I have to remind myself of that constantly. I lost yesterday. I put myself on the line. My best yesterday was not as good as my opponent's best yesterday. And that part does stink. And then you have to look at yourself in the mirror and go back out and practice and get after it again today.

There are variables like cuisine. It is pretty hard to be strict on your diet, because you can play a tournament in Champaign, Illinois, you can play a tournament in Shanghai, China, maybe you won't be able to get the same things. Something's cooked in more oil. Maybe something is cleaner. Maybe the language barrier won't allow you to get exactly what you want. So that is definitely a hurdle on the tour. And then waking up every morning making sure that as a professional, I am accountable for myself. So, I lose yesterday, I have to create a practice schedule, make sure I hit the gym, make sure I sleep at a good time because I play doubles tomorrow, make sure my doubles partner and I are on the same page and all those kinds of things. It means dealing with a lot of things I can’t control, but still, I have to find a rhythm.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: So, on any given day, you don't know until the end of the day when you're going to play correct? Like 10:00 in the morning or 6:00 in the evening.

Evan King: Tomorrow, I don't know my schedule yet. I know I play doubles tomorrow, but I don't know the time of it, so I can't plan anything that far in advance. And then you have flights to the next tournament, I don't know if my week is going to end on Wednesday or if my week is going to end on Saturday. So, I can't really book a flight to my next destination until this week ends. Let's say I lose on Wednesday. I don't really want to leave on Sunday because I'm ill prepared for the next week. I'm going to a different city with different conditions, maybe different balls, maybe different time zones, all those kinds of things. There is a lot of last second planning, which can get a little bit stressful. I graduated in 2013. This is 2021. So, I have been doing it more or less eight years. I've kind of gotten used to it, but it is still difficult at times. But still, I've seen so much of the world that I've had no business seeing, countries that I didn't even know existed until I stepped foot in.

 

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Photo of the Day: Fabio Fognini

Fabio Fognini, born 24 May 1987,  is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. Fognini's most successful surface is red clay, upon which he has won eight of his nine ATP singles titles, most notably the 2019 Monte-Carlo Masters.

Together with Simone Bolelli, Fognini won the 2015 Australian Open doubles championship, becoming the first all-Italian men's pair to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era.

Fognini flourished at the 2014 Cincinnati Masters, beating Lleyton Hewitt on the way to a fourth-round loss to Milos Raonic of Canada.

Photo credit: Karl Corbett, © 2021 Tennis Acumen

Evan King: A Life Outside of Tennis

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Photo credit: Behind the Racket

Tennis Acumen: You're obviously focused on tennis. I mean, you have to be obsessed and half crazy.

Evan King: Yeah. Full crazy

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Other interests? Food, fashion, music, art?

Evan King: I would just go back to the music, the battle rap. That's what I go back to. I would say that would be my hobby when I'm off the court. I'm watching for new battles. I follow a couple of professional battlers. I have been to a couple of events.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Seriously. That's great. There's another passion.

Evan King: Yeah, exactly.

Tennis Acumen: And somebody else has to do the work. That is always good.

Evan King: And I just take it in and enjoy all of what they're putting into the universe. I think when I'm done competing, I want to stay in tennis or in athletics in general. I had a lot of fun in college tennis. I think I do want to be a college coach when I'm done playing.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Given consideration to announcing or broadcasting?

Evan King: Yes and no. I think I could be OK at it. I enjoy the sport. I think I can articulate what I'm trying to say. I think that could be OK. I know a fair amount of the people playing. I think that's a good thing. No, I'm definitely into the sport. I don't think my status as a tennis player would make the transition that easy. You look at Tennis Channel and you look at ESPN, they're all former world number ones, all that kind of energy. Yeah, I need to get my name bigger to really have that be a legitimate option for me. But I think I would have fun with it. Whatever it is, I'll stay in athletics. So that's where my passion is. That's what I enjoy.

Tennis Acumen: So, supporting people that have the same passion, perhaps helping them avoid some of the mistakes you made? Yeah, I understand that.

Evan King: Because through juniors through college, into the professional ranks, you need help to jump the hurdles I wasn't able to.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @EvanKingChicago

J. J. Wolf: A Life outside of Tennis

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American J. J. Wolf at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: Passions outside of tennis: what do you do to expand your horizons and get entertainment?

J. J. Wolf: I do a lot of outdoor activities, go for a lot of hikes, a lot of stuff in the water, fly fishing, things like that. Shoot some guns once in a while. I really, really enjoy doing that, just getting on the range and letting loose. Basically, I like to get outside and experience the world.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Now, did you do that growing up?

J. J. Wolf: Yeah, yeah. We’d go camping, that sort of thing. Tent camping. I never had a motor home or anything like that, but I think that could be fun. At some point, there’s a Jeep that I want to get. I've seen these things you can put on the top that unfold into an actual tent on top of your car, which is pretty cool. My girlfriend really loves outdoor activities too, so we'll go for a trip when we can.

Tennis Acumen: Just an aside, Brenda and I got a motorhome seven, eight years ago.

J. J. Wolf: Awesome, you like it?

Tennis Acumen:. Yeah, it's twenty four feet. It's great for two people, and we absolutely love it. We went up to Laver Cup a few weeks back.  We parked our motorhome in Salem, about half an hour north of Boston, right on the harbor. We wake up in the morning looking at the boats going by, the seagulls. We absolutely fell in love with that. And we can follow the tour as well. Some of our trips have been great, like Laver Cup. Camp somewhere nearby, Uber into the tournament, get a hotel for the weekend. If you like the outdoors and you also like the comforts of home, it's a good idea.

J. J. Wolf: Definitely.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: You travel a lot, J.J. How do you manage it, going from the seafood in New England to barbecue in Texas to European or Asian food, how do you manage when the food's not always predictable?

J. J. Wolf: I'm not very picky at all, so I can find food I like just about anywhere. I haven’t played a full year on tour yet with everything that's happened. Once I have played a couple of years, I know I will find the spots I like at different tournaments and go from there.

Tennis Acumen: So at home, people are coming over for dinner. What's your ‘go to’ dish if you're cooking?

J. J. Wolf: Well, that's a tough one. If I'm cooking, there's not a lot of options, to be honest, but I could always throw some steaks on the grill. That's probably what I'd do. Steak and potatoes.

 

More of this exclusive interview is available at Tennis Acumen. Go to the interviews category, shown on the upper right hand side of the screen.

Tags: @jjwolf5

2022 Australian Open final expert picks: Medvedev vs. Nadal

This article originally appeared on The Grandstand.

Expert picks are back for the Australian Open final on Sunday night, when both Daniil Medvedev and Rafael Nadal are battling for not only the title but also for some serious history. With a victory, Medvedev would become the first player to back up his first slam title by winning the very next major. He would also become world No. 1 for the first time next month. Nadal, of course, would get to No. 21 with a win. A three-team panel previews the action and makes its predictions.

(6) Rafael Nadal vs. (2) Daniil Medvedev

Ricky Dimon: Matteo Berrettini? Great matchup for Nadal. Daniil Medvedev? Not a great matchup. It’s easy to see why. Berrettini may serve even bigger and hit his forehand even bigger than Medvedev, but the Italian’s backhand is a major weakness and he doesn’t defend well. What are two absolute must-haves to defeat Nadal? A world-class backhand and elite defensive skills–especially in terms of defending the backhand side. Medvedev has both. In fact, his combination of backhand and defense is better than everyone else’s on tour other than Novak Djokovic.

The second-ranked Russian also has the edge in endurance. That’s not a knock on Nadal; that’s just the nature of things when the Spaniard is 35 and his opponent is 25. Medvedev played for four hours and 42 minutes against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals and then came out two days later and wore down Stefanos Tsitsipas physically even though Tsitsipas was coming off a lightning-quick quarter against Jannik Sinner. In their epic 2019 U.S. Open final, Nadal was closer to his prime and Medvedev was further away from his prime than they are now. Nadal won that one in five. I expect roles to be reversed in this one. Medvedev in 5: 5-7, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-3.

Cheryl Murray:  Nadal is in the final of the Australian Open for the sixth time. Despite his best efforts–some of which have been flat-out Herculean–he has just one title (2009). He is chasing history, of course, The Spaniard is tied at 20 majors apiece with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. That his first real shot at No. 21 should come in Melbourne is delightfully ironic; Oz is his least-successful slam, after all. Oh, and there’s the fact that he just tiptoed back to tennis after a half a year nursing foot pain from a congenital issue. He really has played remarkably well this fortnight. Aggressive serving, crowding the baseline on returns, and making an obvious (and often successful) attempt at shortening points to be kinder to his 35-year-old body…. That is why he has the chance.

Unfortunately for Nadal’s place in the history books, Medvedev is standing in his way as the other best player in the draw. The world No. 2 snagged his first major at the 2021 U.S. Open, handing Djokovic a beatdown as the Serb made a bid for No. 21 and the calendar-year Grand Slam. That he’s well-positioned to do the same to Nadal in Melbourne is no accident. Medvedev hasn’t been at his best some of the time over the past two weeks. A wonky match in the fourth round against Maxime Cressy had the Russian out of sorts…but he has a way of showing up in the big moments. On hard courts, Medvedev’s best is probably better than Nadal’s best. He is deceptively fast and his offense is more lethal than Nadal’s. Still, with this much on the line the Spaniard is going to show up.
Medvedev in 5: 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Pete Ziebron: With his semifinal victory over Tsitsipas, Medvedev certainly answered any stamina-related “questions” following his lengthy quarterfinal against Auger-Aliassime. Even a Medvedev meltdown or other mid-match detour at a major no longer appears to have any significant impact or an ability to flip a match in favor of his opponent. However, the man on the other side of the net this time is Nadal–who perhaps benefitted from the Russian’s antics at the 2019 U.S. Open and beat him in that final.

In his AO semifinal on Friday, Nadal simply outclassed Berrettini for two full sets and then withstood a serving barrage before picking his spot to do damage and secure the break in the fourth–leading to the win less than five minutes later. Even if Nadal is able to duplicate the caliber of his game from the initial two sets in the semi into the final, it will not be enough against Medvedev. The world No. 2 seemingly has all the answers, gets nearly everything back in play, and goes big at the most unexpected of times. Medvedev in 4: 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-5.