Tennis Acumen

Aleks Kovacevic: My Inspiration

Knoxville, Monday the 4th of November, 2019.  At Knoxville’s Challenger tournament with Aleksander Kovacevic, the 21-year-old American, who has already won his first-round match. Aleks sat down with Tennis Acumen's Karl Corbett for an exclusive interview.

Karl:  So, where do you get your inspiration, Aleks? That inspiration that makes you be willing to do all the hard work? This  is not an easy racket.

Aleks: Growing up, I was watching guys like Federer. I  loved his playing style and I kind of wanted to play like he does. I just  really liked tennis when I was younger. It is tough now, especially to just keep grinding, to keep coming out day after day, especially in  down times, where you are in a slump. You haven't won. You don't feel good about tennis. You've been working to  get better for 15 years, and you're still not doing as well as you want to. It's tough. There are a lot of people that say, straight up: " Oh, I love tennis. I love everything about it." For me, it's not that easy. Honestly, I've been playing for such a long time and in any sport, or anything you do for such a long time, if you are not, let's say, reaping benefits from it, it's gonna take a toll on you.. So, I'm happy to be doing well in these tournaments. But you've got to try to find some kind of motivation inside, even when you're in a slump. You have to figure it out, so you can keep  progressing. And that's  been getting better recently, as I've matured. When I was playing in the Juniors, growing up in this game, that was something I was really struggling with. Like I said, it's hard when you don't see results right away. It's hard. You keep trying to get back out there and grind.

 

Karl:  You are very articulate. This is very interesting. So, some guys just love to win. Some guys hate to lose. Where are you on that spectrum?

Aleks: I definitely hate to lose. It's not that I walk into court expecting to win, every time, but if I do win, I feel like:  " OK. What's next? Still in the mix. Next up, you know". When I lose it's like: "How could I have lost?" I really feel defeated... and it just doesn't feel good. But when I win, I can focus on my  next match. That's kind of what I'm doing right now. I can't really celebrate much until, maybe, I win the whole tournament. T hen,  I'd really  settle in and celebrate.

Karl:  So, You like to win, but you hate to lose even more.

Aleks: That about covers it.

Read more of this interview here: (LINK)

Photo of the Day: Gustavo Kuerten

2004: Gustavo Kuerten approaches the chair during his first round match in Cincinnati. Not every call goes your way.

In 1997, the Brazilian took his very first tour title, and it was at a Grand Slam, winning the French Open. Two weeks later, on a roll, he reached the final in Bologna, Italy with his 11th win in a row.

Kuerten reached number 1 in the world in 2000, the first Brazilian to do so. His career was plagued by injuries, and he retired in 2008, having played just 20 matches in all of 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Photo: Karl Corbett, (c) Tennis Acumen

See more photos in our gallery, here: (LINK)

Aleks Kovacevic: Tennis in Central Park

Knoxville, Monday the 4th of November, 2019.  We are here at Knoxville’s Challenger tournament with Aleksander Kovacevic, the 21-year-old American, who has already won his first-round match. Aleks sat down with Tennis Acumen's Karl Corbett for an exclusive interview.

Karl: Aleks, it's hard for me to find, over the last two years, a  point where you lost your first match two weeks in a row. So, you're playing a lot. You're getting a lot of work out there.

Aleks: Yeah. A big thing that I have been  improving on is being consistent week to week, which is really important, especially on the Futures tour . The last five Futures I've played, I haven't lost before the semi-finals. That's  just a big confidence boost, to know that I will be there every week, to know that I can be there and compete and go farther in the tournament. Today, this was a test, at Challenger  level. I had not actually won a match at Challenger  level yet. This is my first one today.

 

Karl:  It really was a lot of work, at 7-5, 7-5. What was your inspiration to get into the game to begin with,  Aleks?

Aleks: I grew up in New York City, Upper West Side. My parents were Ping-Pong pros, both of them . We had a table in our basement. My parents had  a little apartment when I was growing up, about a five-minute walk from the Central Park Tennis courts. So, my parents  started to play tennis on the weekends, and sometimes I'd  go with them. When I was still very young, I started playing with them and they put me into lessons there in Central Park. And what's interesting is this: now that I live in Illinois, going to school there, and now that I have traveled, playing tennis all over the USA, I sometimes forget how special it was... that I started playing tennis in Central Park, New York City.

 

Karl:  I love that.

Aleks: I just didn't realize that this  was just  not a normal thing. It was my life, and it was special. When I was 15, I moved to Boca Raton, Florida,  because it’s a little strange trying to find court time in the middle of Manhattan. To play serious tennis, well... It's really hard to find players to practice with. It's just  not as ' tennis friendly' as, let's say, Boca which is where I live now. You can walk down any street, and there are tennis courts everywhere.

 

This is part 1 of a 3-part interview. Stay tuned for more. 

For more on Kovacevic's match play in Knoxville, visit here: (LINK)

Photo of the Day: Alexandr Dolgopolov

In 2017, Ukrainian tennis player Alexandr Dolgopolov came into Cincinnati ranked # 71 in the world. He reached # 34 by year's end. In Cincinnati, he qualified into the main draw, beating Americans Reilly Opelka and McKenzie McDonald. He defeated Kevin Anderson in a first round matchup, falling to Australian Nick Kyrgios in the second round. 

Photo credit: Karl Corbett, (c) Tennis Acumen 2017.

For more from our Photos of the Day, go here: (LINK)

Denis Istomin: Places, Passions and the End Game

In early 2020, Tennis Acumen interviewed veteran tennis pro Denis Istomin. Here's a part of that interview.

File photo: Denis Istomin goes down, 2010 against Roger Federer. (c) Tennis Acumen

Tennis Acumen:  You traveled a lot, obviously. What are some of your favorite cities on the tour, and your favorite  places to go in those cities?

Denis: I can say it's London, because I like Wimbledon. I like Melbourne as well. I like my home city. Actually there are two home cities, Moscow and Tashkent. So I live in both countries. I’ve seen a lot of cities I like, but these four, that’s my preference.

Tennis Acumen: And when you travel, you have a life outside of tennis. . What catches your interest most? Is it music, movies, food, fashion? What kind of things grab your attention off the tennis court Denis?

Denis: A little bit of everything. Sometimes I listen to music. Sometimes I watch movies. I read books, especially Dan Brown novels and books on psychology. I like to get out of the hotel and  just walk outside, see what is around, how the city looks. That’s if I have time. Sometimes, we don't have time for anything but tennis For example, here, I have to stay at the tournament all day, because you have practice and then you have doubles and then time to stretch. Then, maybe, work with the physio,  massage and then go  back to the hotel. There’s  dinner and the day is done.

Tennis Acumen: And what's your life going to be like one year from now?

Denis: I will still play tennis and maybe get back to a higher level, to play some more ATP tournaments. OK. This is the goal.

 Tennis Acumen: Have you thought about life after tennis?

Denis: Of course, I’ve been thinking about, yes. I’ve thought about it from the beginning. I would like to be a coach. Maybe I will open an academy in my home country. But, it's just a thought. First of all, I want to play as much as I can. When I stop, then I will decide what I want to do.

Tennis Acumen: Denis, thank you very much. It’s been great.

Denis: Thank you, too. Really appreciate it.

 

In the next part of this interview, Denis talks about playing against a friend (LINK)

Photo of the Day: Marin Cilic

In 2016, Marin Cilic won his first and only Masters title in Cincinnati. In this photo, he celebrates his moment of victory. Finals opponent Andy Murray was visibly rattled late in the match, requesting that the chair umpire turn off his microphone, because the sound of a light breeze in the microphone was distracting him. Cilic prevailed to win the Cincinnati Masters trophy,  6-4, 7-5.

Photo credit: Karl Corbett. (c) Tennis Acumen 2016

See our full photo gallery here: (LINK)

Photo of the Day: Francis Tiafoe

In 2018, American player Francis Tiafoe came into Cincinnati on a nice run. Tiafoe made it to the third round in Wimbledon, beating both Julien Benneteau and Fernando Verdasco.  He'd beaten Marco Ceccinato and Milos Raonic the previous week in Toronto. Here, he fell to Denis Shapovalov in the first round.

Karl Corbett, (c) Tennis Acumen 2018

See our complete photo gallery here: (LINK)

Vasek Pospisil: Goals, Dreams and the End Game

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:  Going forward, Vasek, what are some of your personal goals in the game of tennis?

Vasek:  Coming back from surgery this year, I just wanted to get out there and play and enjoy my time on the court and see how the body feels, of  course. I  didn't really set any goals for this year, in in terms of results. I  just wanted to finish the year healthy, put in a good off-season and see where I was ranked at the end of the year and then set goals for 2020. I started playing some pretty good tennis around the  U.S. Open this year and it’s been building ever since. I feel pretty good on the court, so I'm going into 2020 with some pretty ambitious goals. I want to get back to the top 30,  where I was for a few years, you know, kind of hovering around there. I feel I'm still able to play that level. I just have to do it again, consistently. The main thing is to be healthy. So, my main priority is to get healthy, and see where the game goes from there.

 

Karl:  Looking further down the road, Vasek,  how will you know when you're done?

Vasek:  Good question. I mean for me, because I know how ambitious I am, I'll never be able to coast along, just traveling and picking up paychecks. As soon as I feel like I can't accomplish new heights in the sport, new achievements,  something that I haven't done before in my career, I will know that ship has sailed. That'll be the day I'll retire. If I didn't believe, standing here right now, if I didn't believe that I could still go and break the top 20, then maybe I would be retiring already. I just have so many things that I want to do in my life. Still, with that, I love tennis. But I love a challenge, too. Any challenge, So, I would love to try to be successful in something else, another domain in life. When I can look at myself in the mirror and honestly say: “OK, I know that the best is behind me in this sport.”,  then that'll be the day that I'll retire.

 

>>>>    READ MORE:  What was it like.... winning Wimbledon? Vasek tells us:  (LINK)

How does Vasek feel about winning versus losing?  (LINK)

 

Send a link to a friend... follow Vasek at facebook.com/VasekPospisilTennis

#VasekPospisil , @vasek.pospisil

Denis Istomin: Playing Against a Friend

Hailing from Uzbekistan, Denis Istomin, at age 33, has played a lot of tennis, including a shocking upset in 2017, taking down the #1 player in the world. With a high ranking of #33, he has played all the other top players, as well. Denis sat down with Tennis Acumen in Columbus, Ohio. Here's part of that interview with Karl Corbett.

photo (c) 2020 Tennis Acumen |  Karl Corbett,

Karl: In terms of friends on the tour, are there people you really bond with, other players you spend time with?

Denis: Yes. Mostly Russian players. I like Andre Golubev. Also, Mikhail Kukushkin.

(Golubev, age 32, from Kazakhstan, reached a career high identical to Istomin at #33. Kukushkin, also from Kazakhstan, reached a career high of #39.)

They are both still around, they are the same age as me, we’ve played a lot of the same tournaments . We have had the same road to the top. You know, right there, those are my good friends. That’s probably all I can say who are friends. Sometimes,  you're going to dinner with someone, and you spend some time with them, but you cannot say they are really friends.

 

Karl:  I understand. Is it different when you play against a friend across the net? How do you prepare yourself for that?

Denis: You just don't think about who you play. You just think that you have to win, that it doesn't matter who is standing on the other side of the net. Like I say: when your friend is your opponent, for that game, there is no other answer. It's your opponent and you have to win. Okay, after the match, I can feel bad for my friend, or I can feel bad for myself that I lost to my friend. During and before the match it doesn't matter who is there.

 

Karl: Today  in Columbus, So your doubles partner is going to be your singles opponent tomorrow.

Denis: Yeah, it can change  every day. So many times, it’s been like this. I get used to it. Yeah.

 

READ MORE:  Denis talks about beating Novak Djokovic, here: (LINK)

 

You also may enjoy: Vasek Pospisil talks about Winning Wimbledon, here: (LINK)

 

Donald Young - A Life Outside of Tennis

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, Donald Young sat down with Tennis Acumen for an exclusive interview with Karl Corbett. Here's part of that interview at the Knoxville Challenger, November of 2019. 

Karl: You've been all over the world, Donald. What are some of your favorite cities on the tour?

Donald: I really like Bangkok, Thailand. That was my first final on the ATP Tour, so that was pretty cool, but I loved the city in general. The people are super nice. Australia's great. Melbourne, I love it. In the States, Washington. DC is crazy. I love D.C. So, that's really been my top three.

 

Karl: So how about food, fashion, culture… that sort of thing around the world?

Donald: I'm really into fashion. London and Paris are great for that. But oh, yeah, food. I just like to eat. I'm not big on it, like a foodie, someone who goes to certain places to try a specific thing out. I just pick a couple of spots I like, and I go there the whole time, all the way through a tournament.

 

Karl: So, you keep going back to those spots, year on year? The same comfort zone?

Donald: Yeah, a lot of the same places, that's my thing.

 

Karl: And when you get out on the tour, you've got a life outside of tennis. What fascinates you? I mean, with some guys it's music, movies, books. How do you spend your time?

Donald: I like taking photos. actually. I am pretty big on that, so that's what I do. I like music as well. I don't play, but I listen to it. Photos, it's kind of my thing. I really enjoy it.

 

Karl: So, what subjects do you work with in your photos?

Donald: I like portraits, and I do landscapes, too… scenery. And. I've shot a few graduations, not serious stuff. It's pretty fun, but then I haven't done it a lot lately. I was really into it. So that's more my thing, for sure. I enjoy it.

 

More of this interview is available here, and there's more to come. Share with a friend.