Tennis Acumen

Vasek Pospisil on Winning and Losing

Vasek Pospisil is a Canadian tennis player, ranked as high as number 25 in the world in singles, number 3 in doubles. In 2014, playing with American Jack Sock for the first time, Pospisil won the Wimbledon championship. The pair also reached the finals of Cincinnati that year and won the Indian Wells title in 2015. In singles, Pospisil reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2014.  This interview was an exclusive with Karl Corbett of Tennis Acumen, in Knoxville, Tennessee, November 2019.

Karl:  So, you've got to be a competitive person, right?

Vasek:  Yeah, I'm quite competitive. Pretty much anything that I do, and I mean anything that I do in my life, I go for it 100 percent. So, when I set my mind to something, I  always do it. I  do the best that I can in everything that I do.

 

Karl:  Some guys just love to win. For them, that's the most important thing. Some guys simply hate to lose. Where are you on that spectrum, Vasek? 

Vasek:  That's a tough question. I never really looked at it that way. Obviously, you know winning and losing come hand-in-hand… (pause) I  probably like winning more, but maybe I just I hate to lose. I'm not sure. It's tough to say. It's just that I'm competitive. I don't like it  when somebody gets the better of me. It's maybe a little bit of that, but at the same time it must be a  combination, because I'm very, very driven in anything  that I do. Even, let's say, in life after  tennis, I want to be very successful in anything that I do. That obviously has nothing to do with losing. That has everything to do with going out and getting something for yourself. So, I guess, with that, maybe I'm more  on the spectrum of loving to win, now that I think about it....

 

Karl: That's very articulate, Vasek. 

 

READ MORE: How did Vasek get started?  (LINK)

 

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Vasek Pospisil: How I Got Started

Vasek Pospisil is a Canadian tennis player, ranked as high as number 25 in the world in singles, number 3 in doubles. In 2014, playing with American Jack Sock for the first time, Pospisil won the Wimbledon championship. The pair also reached the finals of Cincinnati that year and won the Indian Wells title in 2015. In singles, Pospisil reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2014.  This interview was an exclusive with Tennis Acumen, in Knoxville, Tennessee, November 2019. Karl Corbett poses the questions.

 

Karl : So, Vasek, just to start, what inspired you to get into tennis in the first place?

Vasek:  Actually,  it was my Dad. My Dad was a huge tennis  fanatic. As long as  I can remember, I was playing. He was coaching my brothers. I have two  brothers that are seven and eight years older than me. So, they were playing, and my dad was coaching them. So, I looked up to them, and  ever since I started walking and  talking, I  wanted to be a tennis player. Truly, that came from my dad's influence and then he coached me. I  wanted to be a tennis player. That was always the goal and, well, that's the way it has worked out.

 

Karl : Now, were either of your parents athletic? .

Vasek:  They were both athletes.... Not professional, just recreational, and they were good. They didn't  pursue it professionally. I   think my dad was actually just a recreational tennis player who just was very passionate about the sport. When they immigrated to Canada, he picked  tennis magazines and coaching tips from  watching tennis on TV. That's how  he got into it. My parents were multi-sport.  He played basketball, soccer and all kinds of sports. My mom was  athletic, too. She was a runner, a sprinter, in fact. So, it was all around me, that sports background in my family.

 

Karl :  So, it's been in the DNA.

Vasek:  Yeah, maybe so. Yeah.

 

Karl :  How old were you when you seriously  picked up a racket?

Vasek:  Basically, right  from a very young age. I was  playing and taking lessons from my Dad when I was five. I  started playing tournaments when I was 6. I  went right into it.

 

 

READ MORE:  How does Vasek deal with defeat? Our interview continues here: (LINK)

 

 

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Zach Svajda: Young Gun, Part One

Zachary Svajda is an American tennis player, just starting his career.  When he sat down with Tennis Acumen in November 2019, he was 16 years old. Watching him on the practice courts, you can see his determination, his focus and his consistency staring to take shape. This is part one of a two-part personal insight into the life of a young gun. 

(photo: Karl Corbett,  copyright Tennis Acumen)

 

Karl Corbett, with Tennis Acumen. Knoxville, Tennessee, November 4th, reporting from the 2019 Challenger tournament. We're with Zach Svajda today, just coming off court after his first-round match. So, I've got to ask... At 16 years old, you're one of the youngest guys out on the tour. What was your inspiration for playing tennis?

Zach: I started when I was two years old. My Dad got me into it. I was on court, hitting volleys, you know. I was still in diapers. And then, by the time I was four and five, I was hitting pretty much every day. I really enjoyed it. My Dad played in college. He played a few pro tournaments, too. He always loved the game.

 

Karl: You love it, too.

Zach: I do.

 

Karl: You know, a lot of guys just absolutely love winning. Some people simply hate losing. Where are you on that spectrum, Zach?

Zach: Well, I love to win. It's tough losing, but it's a part of tennis. It's part of life. You just get back up. There is always another tournament, a new one every week. So, can't get too depressed.

 

Karl: What's your routine? When you're out traveling and doing tournaments, what's your sort of day to day routine?

Zach: Usually it's double practices: morning practice, afternoon practice, then into the gym. I'm usually done around four in the afternoon, and I can relax.

 

Karl: I don't think people have any idea how hard this is, Zach.

Zach: It's tough. It's really tough, yes .

 

Karl: So, what keeps you going?

Zach: This is what I want to do. This. Be a professional tennis player. It's always been my dream.

 

Karl: Well what players have you have you admired? Is there anyone whose style you like to emulate?

Zach: I like Alex DeMinaur. I like how he moves. You know, I'd like to be like Alex, solid from the baseline, right?

 

Karl: Yeah, I saw quite a bit of Alex. I covered the Atlanta tournament in June.

Zach: He took the title. I saw that.

 

Karl: And when he is 'on', there's no stopping him.

Zach: Alex is really quick. No doubt.

 

Karl: I have to say your game is really ferocious. You hit the ball as hard as anybody out there. And you tend to go side to side. You change directions more than just about anybody. Where does that fit into your overall game plan, or do you change that from one match to another?

Zach: It usually depends on who I am playing, but I love going side to side. But, when I am playing someone tall, I try to slice more and keep the ball low, give them trouble, having to go down low and go after it. I have to see, out on court, how my opponent is playing their game.

 

Karl: How long does it take you to read somebody you have never played?

Zach: I would say, most of the time, three to four games. I always look my opponents up on the Internet to see if there's anything that might help me get ready. I do research, and my coaches do that, too.

 

Karl: If you were not playing tennis, what would you be doing?

Zach: People always ask me that. I don't think too much about it, you know. Maybe acting, though. I think I could get into acting.

 

Karl: I think you'll be in this game for a while, Zach.

 

Now, read part two of this exclusive: (LINK)

Zach Svajda: Young Gun, Part Two

Zachary Svajda is an American tennis player, just starting his career.  When he sat down with Tennis Acumen in November 2019, he was 16 years old. Watching him on the practice courts, you can see his determination, his focus and his consistency staring to take shape. This is part two of a two-part personal insight into the life of a young gun. 

(photo: Karl Corbett,  copyright 2020  Tennis Acumen)

Karl: If you were not playing tennis, what would you be doing?

Zach: People always ask me that. I don't think too much about it, you know. Maybe acting, though. I think I could get into acting.

 

Karl: I think you'll be in this game for a while, Zach. Tell a little more about your family life, the support you get from them.

Zach: Yes, they're in San Diego. My mom is actually moving with me to Orlando soon, so I can have better access to my training with the USTA. My dad plays and he teaches. My mom, they all support me. I have a younger brother who plays, so I practice with him when I am out in San Diego.

 

Karl: So, tell me, what are  favorite cities that you've traveled to.

Zach:5 I haven't done much. I haven't been out of the U.S. yet. We've been at this for over a year. It's 14 months now. This is just my second Challenger tournament. It is pretty here in Knoxville, with the rivers and the lake. I liked Vero Beach, in Florida, when I played there. That was pretty nice.

 

Karl: You are a San Diego boy, right?

Zach: I was born in La Jolla, where you can climb down those sandstone cliffs and watch seals out on the beach. We live in Pacific Beach now, and we do okay.

 

Karl: Well it's hard to find any place prettier, Zach. Tell me about your favorite foods.

Zach: Favorite foods... Well, I love barbecue. I don't eat it during tournaments. It's not the healthiest. But, when I can eat whatever I want, it's barbecue or pasta... You know, good Italian food.

 

Karl: Did you pick to pick that up traveling in the south, the barbecue?

Zach: A little bit. Yeah, that's where I got the taste for it, an I love it. For a tournament, you have to get those carbs in, like a ru

nner getting ready for a marathon.

 

Karl: You're right, yes....How about your favorite bands? Do you get much time to listen to music?

Zach: I do. I like Khalid. Really smooth, great songs, And, of course, Drake. He's legend.

 

Karl: One last question, Zach. Where did you get that mean streak that makes you so ferocious?

Zach: (laughs) I guess it just comes naturally....

 

Karl: Good luck going forward, Zach. Thanks for doing what you do. Stay with it.

Zach: Thanks. That’s perfect. Appreciate it.

 

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Roy Smith: Family Life and Life on the Road

Roy Smith is an American tennis player, age 21. A star player at Baylor University, he's been ranked as high as #310 in the world.

 

Karl: We are here in Knoxville with Roy Smith, just sitting down to have a chat in the player’s lounge. Roy, you've had a good run at this tournament. I've been having a great time watching you play. And I'm just wondering what inspired you to get into tennis in the first place.

Roy: My grandfather played college tennis at Loyola University, down in New Orleans. So that’s what inspired me to play tennis.

Karl: So, did you hit balls with your grandfather at some point?

Roy: Yes. When he came to Connecticut and visited, I got to hit some  balls with him, and he coached me a little bit.

 

Karl: Okay. You have to give up a lot of other things in life to play this game. What kind of support does your family give you that makes that possible?

Roy: They're really supportive. They just tell me to go out there and do my best every day, and to keep on doing what I'm doing. One day it's going to click, you never know.

 

Karl: You're just turned 21 years old, right? You have been ranked for three years already. You've spent a lot of time away from home. Who do you keep in touch with when you're on the road?

Roy: I keep in touch with my Dad a lot. Yeah, my Dad, my sisters, my cousins. I just like staying on the phone with them. That helps me out a lot, especially when it gets kind of lonely. This week, I have my Mom traveling with me. So, that's really nice. But it's always nice to hear from my father, hear from my cousins. We are all really close to each other. My sister, Margaret Sexton. She's a lot older than me. She’s an author. She wrote this book called “ A Kind of Freedom”. Good book.

 

Karl: I will check that out. Have you done any travel to Europe or Latin America at this point?

Roy: I haven't been to Europe yet, but I have traveled to Ecuador and to Mexico. I also have been to Asia.

 

Karl: Well that is pretty extensive travel at 21 years old. That is epic. Among the places you've been, what are some of your favorites?

Roy: I’d have to say Japan and Korea. I played in Yokohama, And in Korea, we were in Gwangju and Busan,  in the south of the country.

 

Karl:  Tell me, what was the trip like to Ecuador? I've never been anywhere close.

Roy: Oh, Ecuador. It was really fun. The food was so good. The people were great. The weather was hot, really hot. it was nice.

 

Karl: Did you see any scenery, taking in the sights down there?

Roy: A little bit. You don’t get too much time on the tour. There’s too much tennis for that. I see a tennis court. Back to the hotel. But, I got to see a little bit. I like to sample the food. That's what I like.

 

Karl: What's your favorite food?

Roy: I love crepes.

 

Karl:  Oh, seriously? OK. That's more the European thing than the Ecuadorian thing.

Roy: And I like soul food. My Mom is a good cook….She's from New Orleans so. She cooks good gumbo,  jambalaya, po boys. Oh, yeah. She's a great cook when she wants to be. (laughs)

(This interview continues with Roy's thoughts on winning and losing  and 'trusting the process'. Visit once a week, and you won't miss a thing.)

 

Vasek Pospisil: Winning Wimbledon

Vasek Pospisil is a Canadian tennis player, ranked as high as number 25 in the world in singles, number 3 in doubles. In 2014, playing doubles with American Jack Sock for the first time, Pospisil won the Wimbledon championship. The pair also reached the finals of Cincinnati that year and won the Indian Wells title in 2015. In singles, Pospisil reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2014. This interview was an exclusive with Tennis Acumen, in Knoxville, Tennessee, November 2019. Karl Corbett opens things up. 

Karl: So, are you OK, talking about Wimbledon and the doubles championship? You have probably heard those questions a million times.

Vasek: No. I'd like to. I like talking about it. I mean it's a huge, incredible achievement, whether it's doubles or singles. I like to remind people that I also made the quarterfinals in singles. I don't view myself as a doubles player or a specialist. These last three years, especially, I've been playing with a focus mainly on singles and I've had a good singles career, as well. But it definitely, in doubles, being a Wimbledon champion, it's a huge achievement in your career.

 

Karl: On the heels of that, I'm based in Cincinnati. My wife and I watched every doubles match you and Jack played there in 2014, all the way to the finals, and you kept breaking records for a new doubles team. What did it feel like, the whole cycle, from winning a match, to settling down afterward and soaking in the victory, to getting up and doing it again, the next day? What was that cycle like for you, personally?

Vasek : All through Wimbledon and into Cincinnati, breaking those records, honestly, we were just high on confidence. We were going with the wave we were on. At Wimbledon, it just went by so quickly. At the time, I was top 30 in singles and I was not really focused on doubles at all. I wasn't really playing much doubles and then then we just got on this roll.

Jack and I were out of the singles competition, and we just decided to give it a go. We won, and then we just took down Cincinnati, all the way to the finals. It's one of those things when you get on a hot streak, you know. You're not really thinking too much. You just kind of go day by day. You're full of confidence in who you are .... believing in yourself and the team. If anything, it just went by really quickly. There was not really too much thought process going on at the time. We lived in the moment.

Karl: And what a moment that was, Vasek. What a moment.

 

>>>>    READ MORE:  How does Vasek feel about winning versus losing?  (LINK)

 

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Donald Young: A Brief History

Donald Young has been playing professional tennis for more than half of his life. Now 30 years old, he turned pro at age 15. Ranked as high as #38 in the world at one time, he sat down with Tennis Acumen for an exclusive interview with Karl Corbett.

Donald Young plays the Cincinnati Masters, 2009 (photo: Karl Corbett)

Karl: It’s February 26, 2020 and we are here at the Columbus Challenger event  with Donald Young. Donald, let me test your memory for a minute. Does this name ring a bell? Noam Okum.

Donald: Yeah. We played a few times. A really good Israeli player with a great one-handed backhand. We played 2004 in Cincinnati. I’m thinking it was in the qualies. And I know that Noam spanked Nicholas Monroe and me in doubles one time in Carson (California) playing with Dudi Sela. I remember that pretty vividly.

 

Karl: Your memory is astounding. I'm based out of Cincinnati. I saw that match. It was early on a Saturday morning on center court. You had to be 15 years old, at the time.

Donald: I had just turned 15, yes.

 

Karl: Did you have any idea what how unusual that was or what the pressure was?

Donald: No, I was just excited to play. Actually, I just wanted to be there and enjoying playing tennis. That's it.

 

Karl: Well, how did you come to play tennis and when did you start?

Donald: Both my parents play actively. My dad played in college. My mom was a weekend warrior. There was no real babysitter, so I was always on the court. If I was quiet and good, I had a chance to play. They let me get out there and hit a few balls at the end of their hits. Through that, I grew to love the game and kept playing…. and here we are now.

 

Karl: Was that in Chicago, Illinois?

Donald: Yeah. Indoor hard courts, so it was year-round. It was a club, Hyde Park Athletic Club, on the Southside.

 

Karl: And when did you discover you loved tennis and you wanted to do this more than anything?

Donald: I loved the game from a young age, maybe 10 or 11 years old. I wanted to be professional by age 13 or 14. The main goal was to get a college scholarship. That's what we always were working for.

 

Karl: So, did you play college tennis?

Donald: No, I did not. I was 15 when I turned pro. You know, it just seemed like a natural thing to do. I wanted to further my tennis and we couldn't afford to do it any other way. So, I needed to sign with a management company and get some sponsors. I could have just kept playing juniors, but you have to keep progressing.

 

Karl: And does your family still support you, work with you?

Donald: Both my parents, yes. They're both my coaches still and it’s really a family affair.

 

There is more to this interview, so keep an eye out for the next installment.

Jeffrey John (JJ) Wolf: Challenger Title - Family Ties

With JJ Wolf's title in the Columbus Challenger, March 2020, we thought you'd want to know more about this rising star. Columbus 2020 is his fourth Challenger title. Here's a Tennis Acumen exclusive from Knoxville, November 2019, as Karl Corbett interviews JJ Wolf.

Karl: Hi, JJ, and thanks for taking the time to talk with us. We are both from Cincinnati, and we go way back, it seems. Years back, we went to the Cincinnati Met tournament. Your Dad played there and won.

JJ: That is a big family tournament for us. My Mom actually won a couple of times, too.

 

Karl: I was just digging through photos. (pulls up a photo.) Would this be your Dad, by any chance?

JJ: Yes, that's my Dad, for sure.

Karl: That was 2004.

JJ: My Dad and my Mom won the mixed doubles a couple of times. I know my Mom won singles and doubles titles. My Dad won six or seven singles titles. It was something like 26 titles altogether: singles, mixed doubles, regular doubles.

 

Karl: We've been following you for years, because your Dad's name is so familiar. How did you get into tennis and what was your inspiration to play the game?

JJ: Oh, it's definitely a family thing. We would go on vacations when I was younger, and we'd always play mixed doubles: my Mom and me versus my sister my Dad. It was always a fun family thing to play together. You know, an hour a day on vacation until I was maybe six or seven, Then, I started to play seriously, three times a week, until I was ten or twelve. I played a bunch of other sports, so it was hard to play a lot of tennis. The team sports were more fun for me. As I got older, I wanted to control my own career a little more. In tennis you can do that.

 

Karl: How old were you when you first picked up a racket?

JJ: I remember a picture of me with a cut off tennis racket. I was really young, maybe three, just smacking the ball, but nothing serious.

 

Karl: Somewhere around three or four. And where's the passion now, where you maybe didn't have it at first?

JJ: It was just fun when I was younger. I still find it fun. I really like to compete. Maybe there’s something about family honor, trying to just make them proud, keep my values and honor the way my family brought me up. That's where I get the passion from. I want to make them proud and be successful for them.

 

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