Tennis Acumen

Part II with Chris O Connell - A Tennis Life

Christopher "Chris" O'Connell (born 3 June 1994) is an Australian professional tennis player. He grew up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. O'Connell reached a career high ATP singles ranking of 114 on 3 February 2020. He made his ATP Tour debut in January 2017 in his hometown at the Sydney International. Chris sat down in early 2020 for this exclusive interview with Tennis Acumen at the Columbus Challenger, where he reached the final and hit a career high ranking.

TENNIS ACUMEN: We are happy to be with Chris O'Connell, here in Columbus Ohio. Chris, you've been on the tour for a while. How did you first get started in tennis?

CHRIS O’CONNELL: I started playing tennis when I was about four or five, at a pretty young age. My mom used to play social tennis. She just brought me along and put me into a couple of lessons and that's how I got started.

 

TENNIS ACUMEN: At what point did you realize you were good at the game?

CHRIS O’CONNELL: Pretty early on, really. In Australia, I was in the top of my age group from. 12:00 and under all the way through 18 and under.  At a young age, I knew I was quite decent. And. You know.

 

TENNIS ACUMEN: What's it been like, getting on the road and being a full-time player? What was the transition like for you? The switch flips and you realize: “I'm a pro tennis player.” When did that happen for you?

CHRIS O’CONNELL: I guess once I started making a little bit of money. Playing the tournaments. And once you start making a bit of money and profiting each week, then you realize: “Oh, you can actually do this for a living.” So, that's when I figured it out.

 

TENNIS ACUMEN: You still get support from your family?

CHRIS O’CONNELL: Yes, I do. I speak to them all the time and they support me a lot. But financially, it's all up to me.

 

TENNIS ACUMEN: I understand that. What is it about the game that makes you want to do this more than anything else?

CHRIS O’CONNELL: I mean I've been playing for a long time, so it's been my life. I've been doing it for my whole life, so I can't really put a finger on it, what I love about it so much. But, as a young kid, I loved running around and hitting a tennis ball. It’s as simple as that.

Getting to Know Chris O'Connell

With the 2021 Australian Open in the headlines this week, Tennis Acumen today features Australian Chris O'Connell.  

Christopher "Chris" O'Connell (born 3 June 1994) is an Australian professional tennis player. He grew up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. O'Connell reached a career high ATP singles ranking of 114 on 3 February 2020. He made his ATP Tour debut in January 2017 in his hometown at the Sydney International.

TENNIS ACUMEN: Do you get support from other Australian players or Tennis Australia, the federation down there?

CHRIS O’CONNELL: I don't play too many times against Australian guys.  I play a lot in Europe. A lot of the Australian guys don't really play over there that much. The last couple of years, I haven't had too much support from Tennis Australia. But I'm getting a bit of support this year, and they also gave me a wildcard into the Australian Open this year. That was a huge help financially as well.

 

TENNIS ACUMEN: OK very cool you know. Are you close with John Millman?

CHRIS O’CONNELL: Yes, I used to train with him, a little bit a few years ago when I was living in Brisbane for a while. Whenever I see him, we speak. Yeah, he's a nice guy.

 

TENNIS ACUMEN: He really is one of the sweetest guys ever. A very nice guy. Other favorite players on the tour, people that you spend time with?

CHRIS O’CONNELL: Mostly the Aussie guys. I'm pretty friendly with a guy called Danilo Petrovic, a Serbian guy. I'm friendly with a lot of Swedish players. I trained in Sweden a little bit. And then, all the Aussie players are very close.

 

TENNIS ACUMEN:  What are your passions, outside of tennis? Music, movies, food, fashion?

CHRIS O’CONNELL: I’m obsessed with music and I like reading as well. So, I spend most my time off court listening to music and reading quite a bit.

 

TENNIS ACUMEN: Your favorite bands?

CHRIS O’CONNELL: A lot of pretty underground Australian bands and I stick to the surf rock sort of genre.

Dennis Ralston, 6 Time Davis Cup Champion - Player, Coach & Captain

PETE ZIEBRON

As host of The Dennis Ralston Show in 2017 and 2018, I had the unique opportunity to discuss the current status of tennis as well as ask questions regarding stories from the past with Dennis Ralston.  These stories included his playing days as well as coaching Davis Cup teams and Chris Evert, Gabriela Sabatini, Yannick Noah and Roscoe Tanner.

Today, in Austin, Texas at age 78, Dennis departed the earth to be with the Lord.

Dennis won five major doubles titles in his storied career and reached the Wimbledon singles final in 1966.  

My favorite segment of The Dennis Ralston Show was when I was able to ask questions in the "Dennis Remembers" portion.  Winning the Davis Cup as a player in 1963 was certainly a career highlight and achievement, however the best stories came from 1968-1972.  During these first four years, Ralston led the United States to four consecutive Davis Cup triumphs as the Coach of the squad.  The following year, Ralston served as Captain and the USA won yet again, for the fifth straight year.

Ironically, my late Father, who attended one of Nick Bollettieri's first tennis camps in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1969, was on hand to watch the United States win the Davis Cup Finals in Cleveland in both 1969 and 1970.  Several times in my younger years, I would hear these stories of when Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith defeated Ion Tiriac and Illie Nastase of Romania in 1969 as well as when Ashe and Cliff Richey defeated West Germany in 1970.

Dennis, I am so glad and honored to have hosted your tennis show not long ago.  Rest in Peace.