Tennis Acumen

College Tennis - J. J. Wolf

Jeffrey John "J. J." Wolf (born December 21, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 120 in September 2020. Wolf played collegiately at The Ohio State University, where he was the #1 ranked player in college tennis. J. J. sat with Karl Corbett of Tennis Acumen at the Knoxville Challenger in November, 2019.  Here is part of that exclusive interview. 

Tennis Acumen: We are with Jeffrey John Wolf talking about the college game.  J.J., when did you make the decision to play college tennis, as opposed to going straight on the tour?

J. J. Wolf: For me it was never an option to go straight onto the tour.  I always knew I was going to go to college. My parents raised me with that idea in my head and   I wanted to get a feel for the education. I also loved the team environment college provides. So, it was a great idea for me to go to college. It  helped my game a lot and I made some of the best friends I could ask for.

 

Tennis Acumen: Tell me about that team experience it's a bit different on the tour

J. J. Wolf: Yeah,   I'm pretty lucky. I've got one of my former teammates on tour with me right around the same ranking. So, we get to play the same tournaments, which is nice. I still get a little bit of that feel but I know a lot of these guys are out there on their own. That's not my personality. I'd rather have a team around me. S

 

Tennis Acumen: In college, it seems everything is pretty structured. Things are arranged for you:  food, meals, travel. All you have to do is play tennis and go to class, right? How would you describe that shock when you go on the pro tour and have to do everything yourself?

J. J. Wolf:  I've been lucky in this regard, also. I've had a lot of help from the agency I signed with, my coaches as well as my family, helping make that transition as smooth as possible. It is  definitely a little bit of a shock when you all you're thinking about is tennis. At school, I could socialize with my friends, went to classes, but   after   a month or two, I got used to it a little more. I kind of had a shaky start there, but   I'm getting accustomed to it.

 

Tennis Acumen: What was the biggest surprise making that transition?

J. J. Wolf: I don’t know if it was a surprise, but the biggest shock was just   how consistently high the  level of play was, with everyone. I just hadn't thought about it before     You make jumps and strides so quickly at all levels, up until the pros. This is, obviously, the last place you can go. After the first couple tournaments, you learn that  every match can be a hard one. You know it's a  privilege to play against a lot of these guys, so, I’m having fun.

 

Tennis Acumen: Excellent, JJ, thanks for sharing your experience with us.

J. J. Wolf: Thank you very much. I  appreciate it.  

 

For more in our series on college tennis, select the 'College Tennis' category, upper right. 

Sharapova vs. Halep in Cincinnati 2014

PETE ZIEBRON

The Maria Sharapova - Simona Halep rivalry was fierce, fiesty and extremely competitive.  They met for the third time in a little over two months in the 2014 Western & Southern quarterfinals.

Sharapova held a 4-0 H2H heading into the match in Cincinnati, having won the Roland Garros and Madrid finals earlier in the year, both in three sets.  This match would be their first meeting on hard courts since Beijing in 2012.

An overflow crowd packed Grandstand court for the first match of the Evening Session in Cincinnati and at least thirty Romanian flags greeted Halep as the players arrived on court.  Halep took the opening set 6-3 but was never able to get a stranglehold on the match.  

My vantage point was in the photo pit opposite the Chair and directly below the Sharapova camp, where coach Sven Groenfeld kept urging on his charge over and over with "You were made for this" shouts and reminders.  Sharapova must have agreed and she was able to win the following two sets 6-4 6-4 to advance to the semifinals.

Following the match, both players expounded on the occasion:

Sharapova on changing tactics in the second and third sets:  "I think just getting myself in the point and making her realize that I'm there, that my presence is someone there instead of giving her so many looks on second serves and giving her so many easy points, having the opportunity to move in."

Sharapova on facing a crowd more in favor of her opponent:  "Yeah, I'm very used to that.  I've been on the tour for so many years to face against opponents that have small support groups that come out with bells and whistles and the circus act and all of that.
I'm very well‑prepared and I use that to my advantage.  I use that to get energy as opposed to getting angry, and that's worked really well for me in my career."

Halep on the second and third sets:  "I think this second set for sure I made a step behind the baseline and was a mistake.
Then in the third set I wanted just to stay aggressive.  Now I don't know if I did this, but for sure she played really well.  She was hitting the ball really strong.  I made few mistakes, easy mistakes.
But I am okay.  I played well, and I'm happy with the way I played today.  So I have just to looking forward for the next one."

Halep on what she will need to do the next time they play: "I think it's about experience.  Maybe you saw the match.  At the important moments she was hitting the ball very strong.  Maybe she's doing this every time and now it's working.
I was a little bit nervous at 4‑3 for me.  But, you know, I need experience.  I need more matches, and then maybe I will play better in this moment.  I feel okay.  The match was good.
I just want to forget it and to take another one, the next one."

Sharapova and Halep would play four more times, with the Russian winning the next two matches and Halep the last two for a final H2H of 7-2 in favor of Sharapova.

 

 

College Tennis - Aleksander Kovacevic - Part Two

American Aleks Kovacevic talked with Tennis Acumen at the Knoxville Challenger, November of 2019. This is part two of his thoughts on the college tennis experience.

Photo credit - The Daily Illini

 

Tennis Acumen:  So, you talk about team atmosphere. You've had a little taste of life in the pros, playing Futures and Challengers. What is it about college, the  team tennis environment that works best for you?

Aleks Kovacevic:  Well, there's a lot of adversity you have to face here (on the pro tour). It's very different in college. For example, you'll have huge crowds showing up for our matches. We have a really big fan base for Illinois tennis. You don't really see that, not at this level in the pros (the Challenger tournaments). You see maybe one or two guys come out to watch you and cheer for you, but it's not like you have a whole city behind you, in a way. That’s really cool, but it can also be stressful when you're on the road and you have a crowd of people chirping at you.

And the way that college tennis is structured with no ad points, it's just a lot more of a stressful situation when you're on the court. There's a few ways look at it. Some people love that. What's been interesting is this: I used to really, really love that stress.  I always thrived in that. And this summer, I came out to  some of these Challenger matches and there was no one there. I struggled, because I was thinking: “Where's everyone to boost me or even just chirp at me?”. I wanted people that get me going somehow, and I had to find new internal motivation. I got so used it here that when I came back to college it was a shock to my system. It was so much noise that I kind of  wanted it to be quiet again. It can be good and it could be bad. It depends on the player and your mindset about how you look at it. A lot of things.

 

Tennis Acumen:  Quite interesting. That's quite interesting. And you're a couple of months away from graduation.

Aleks Kovacevic:  I don't know if I'll finish my schooling, but iIn terms of like my tennis eligibility I'll be done.  My fourth year, I'll be done.

 

Tennis Acumen:  So, Aleks, are you putting together a team to support you, to keep you on the road:   your trainer or physio, flight arrangements, all of that?

Aleks Kovacevic:  That's one thing that I'm trying to work on. It hasn't really come together as much as  I thought. mean. Some of those things, I worry about a lot. My plan after college in terms of where I am going to train. Who’s going to travel with me. It's pretty sad, in a way, because I'm gonna miss being in college with my friends all the time. I'll be on my own, in a way. But I think those kind of things will figure themselves out as I get on the pro tour. I meet a lot of people that can put me in touch with with whoever I need. I haven't had really that pro experience, where I'm going week to week, out there by myself.  Right now, I'm playing this pro tournament, and I'm driving back to school right away. I'm going back to see my friends. So, it's a lot different when you're playing Challengers and pro tournaments while you're in college than it will be playing strictly pro so. Some things, I might have to adjust to.  I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also very anxious about it. You know life is gonna be different and I know I’ll miss college.

 

Tennis Acumen:  Well you will have to create your own structure. It’s all there for you right now, all provided.  But you're sharp. I know you’ll figure that out. Last question. Where would you like to be in one year.

Aleks Kovacevic:  In one year? I want to be able to crack the top 200 I guess. That's a fairly reasonable goal. I'm going to be ranked around 490 next week. My goal right now is to set myself up for this summer in terms of getting into these Challengers on my own ranking. I've gotten a lot of wild cards and I think I've used them pretty well. But I'd like to kind of push into that 300 to 400 range soon, sooner rather than later so I can kind of just consistently  play at the Challenger level, and peck away  at the higher level. That’s the plan.

 

Tennis Acumen:  Thank you very much Aleks. This really is fascinating. People love this stuff. See you soon.

 

For more in our series on college tennis, select the 'College Tennis' category, upper right. 

College Tennis - Aleksander Kovacevic - Part One of Two

American Aleks Kovacevic talked with Tennis Acumen at the Knoxville Challenger, November of 2019. This is part one of his thoughts on the college tennis experience.

photo credit - The Daily Illini

 

Tennis Acumen:  February 26, 2020. Columbus, Ohio. Tennis Acumen sits down with Aleksander Kovacevic. Aleks, at what point did you decide you were going to play tennis in college as opposed to go on the tour.

Aleks Kovacevic:  I didn't see it as that big of a choice. I was honestly looking at going to Ivy League schools, but I decided not to,  which is not saying anything against Ivy League schools. It's just, for me, if I went to an Ivy League school, I'd be more focused on the school and  after that, somehow  find my tennis. My dad was always a scholar. He was a Ph.D. in computer science at UCLA. So, my parents were kind of pushing me to go the elite school route. I had the SAT scores and all that. Then, by the very end of my high school tenure,  I started doing better and better and started competing with the guys that were top in  the nation. My ranking  was in the top 20.  

Aleks Kovacevic:  And nowadays, guys are making these decisions.  For example, my friend Axel Geller from Argentina. He was the number one junior in the world in 2017. He decided to go to college instead of go pro. So for me, seeing something like that, it was not even a question.  I wasn’t saying: “I don't think I can make it as a pro.” This was going to be a long way to go. It's tough out here. Tennis is a  tough sport to make money in. Mentally, it's just a tough sport. So I wanted to have a backup if tennis wasn't really going as well as I wanted it to.

 

Tennis Acumen:  And how did you decide which school then?  Specifically the University of Illinois? How did you end up there?

Aleks Kovacevic:   It's kind of a long story. I was looking at a bunch of schools before I decided on Illinois. And I did like those schools. I had nothing nothing against them. I liked all the schools. But for me, school was school… and I didn't really like school in general. It was kind of daunting.  I didn't want to do the actual school work. I'd much rather focus on tennis. I'm a lazy kid, in terms of school. Then, I played my now teammate Zeke Clark in the final round of qualifying in the Futures. I think it was in Little Rock, Arkansas. We had a grind of a match, and Zeke beats me 7-5 in the third set. I'm sitting on the sideline,  looking at flights on my phone, talking my dad about where I'm going to go next, drinking a Coke on the sideline. After the match, Zeke  comes out to me, saying: “Hey, man, you're a really good player. You should contact Brad Dancer. He’s  head coach at Illinois.”

Aleks Kovacevic:   I didn't really know Zeke, but he was one of the top players in the nation at the time. I had respect for him. So I thought: “Maybe I will.”  I reached out to Brad. I guess Zeke had talked to Brad in the meantime and Brad was excited to have me on campus. I came on a visit and fell in love with the team, fell in love with everything about the place. I don't really know why, because it's kind of different from where I’ve ever lived. A lot different from Boca (Boca Raton, Florida),  right? Illinois is a very different place,  but it clicked. I committed to school a few weeks before it started. I was a really planning to go in in January and take some time just to hang out. But then I visited, I loved it, and I said: “ Let's do it. Let's start now.” That's my story when it comes to Illinois.

 

Tennis Acumen:  So another player recruited you. Now your teammate, Zeke Clark.

Aleks Kovacevic:  Right. I think he's ranked around 700 right now. He’s good player. Greatest guy ever. I loved him  from the first day I met him and he's just an amazing person. He’s one of the top recruiters in college, as a player. In terms of  everyone that comes to visit Illinois, Zeke’s just been there, encouraging people. Everyone that comes on a visit there has just loved the team atmosphere.

 

Tennis Acumen:  Interesting, the way that works.

 

For more in our series on college tennis, select the 'College Tennis' category, upper right. 

J. J. Wolf - Favorite Cities on the Tennis Tour

Jeffrey John "J. J." Wolf (born December 21, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 120 in September 2020. Wolf played collegiately at The Ohio State University, where he was the #1 ranked player in college tennis. J. J. sat with Karl Corbett of Tennis Acumen at the Knoxville Challenger in November, 2019.  Here is part of that exclusive interview. 

Karl: You know, you're getting to travel more and more. What are some of your favorite cities and why do you like them?

J.J.: My favorite city always be Cincinnati. You know, I'm a real hometown kid. I like Cincinnati a lot. For professional tournaments, I really enjoy the U.S., mostly. Indian Wells was very nice. I got to play qualies there. My favorite city in Europe is Barcelona. I was there playing juniors. It was a training week, so I got to have some fun. As far as the other cities, I've got to get better at seeing the sights while am at their tournaments. You know, not being too, too focused. So, I'm sure I'll learn a lot more about different cities and find my favorites.

 

Karl: So, what was it about Barcelona? You had some time. What caught your fancy.

J.J.: I had a couple of. Spanish coaches work me out while my coach was also there. Get to see the different ways they train over there. The red clay is kind of new and different which makes it fun. I also got to see the Sagrada Familia, their most famous church, which is very cool, coming from a Catholic background. That’s an important piece of history. One of my buddies, Sebastian Arcila, who plays at Florida State now, was training with me there. We were able to have fun together, and relax a little bit. I improved my game and had some fun, too.

 

Karl: When you are traveling, J.J., what's your day to day routine? Sometimes you have a morning match, sometimes you play at night. How do you make the day to day routine work for you?

J.J.: Oh, we keep it pretty structured, but not too strict, no. There's always a guideline we go by, maybe more of an outline. When I have a morning match. I always like to have finished warmups an hour before I'm playing. I like a little downtime before I stencil my rackets. I think what I'm going to do, relax a little bit. I talk to my family and then strap the headphones on before I play. Then after, I’ll cool down If it's a night match, I like to get a hit in, maybe late morning. And then another hit before the match. You follow the same routine to get your body moving a little bit. I haven’t had too many night matches yet, maybe three or four.

 

Karl: That'll be coming.

J.J.: I hope so.

Denis Istomin Talks About Winning and Losing

Denis Istomin  is an Uzbek professional tennis player, born in Russia. He has won two singles titles (at the 2015 Aegon Open Nottingham and 2017 Chengdu Open) and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in 2012. In January 2017, he defeated defending champion Novak Djokovic in the second round of the Australian Open. This interview was an exclusive for Tennis Acumen, held in November 2019 at the Columbus, Ohio Challenger. 

 

Tennis Acumen: Thanks for sitting down with us, Denis. First off, how did you get started in tennis? Most guys start at a very young age. How about you?

Denis Istomin: Me, I also started very young. I was four years old, maybe younger. My mother is a  coach and she was working in a club in Uzbekistan. I was with her on the court all the time, so I just did what you might expect:  I started to play.

 

Tennis Acumen: When did you discover that you loved tennis?

Denis Istomin: Probably around seven years old. I do love to play tennis and I just love to compete,  actually. I cannot say exactly what age it was, but ever since I started to play tournaments, say around 7, I realize that I like to play and I like to compete.

 

Tennis Acumen: So, some guys Denis, they love to win. That's really important. Some guys hate to lose. And that's very important. Where are you on that spectrum, loving to win more or hating to lose?

Denis Istomin: Actually it's on both sides. I mean you go on court and you want to win. And of course, you don't like to lose, but, if you lose you just realize that you are not good enough on that day. So, you just need to work harder than before and to win as much as you can. So, I love to win and I hate to lose.

Donald Young - Winning and Losing

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: Let’s talk tennis, Donald…. Some guys absolutely love to win. That's the most important thing. And some guys hate to lose more than anything. Where are you on that spectrum? What drives you the most?

DY: Yes, I'm in the middle of both. I really hate losing. The feeling is awful. But I love to win as well. That feeling is great. So, you try to miss out on one feeling and get the other one all the time.

Karl: So, when it comes to losing, afterwards, do you need to go off by yourself, or be with somebody?

DY: Yeah, I need some time, but I've gotten better about taking a loss as I've gotten older. For a while, it would last a lot a long time. Coming up, it was more tragic, because it didn't happen often. especially in Juniors. (Young won the both the French Open and Wimbledon juniors titles.) I certainly did not lose as often as in the pros, so it wasn't a feeling I was used to. You play the pros and you are probably going to lose more weeks than you win, in general. Even the top players lose more events than they actually win, if you look at the numbers.

Karl: When you're out on court, Donald, playing singles, do you hear the crowd? Do you pay attention to the crowd, or do you totally zone out and just focus on what's on court?

DY: It depends on where I am. I'm serious. Somewhere like the US Open, I'm really listening for it, because the support is normally for me. In another country, you probably tune it out a little more. But I like the crowd. I like the energy they bring, positive or negative. You relate to the crowd in that that experience. The bigger the audience the better it is.

Karl: And what do you think your life will be like a year from now? What are your goals?

DY: Hopefully, out of the Challengers and back in the top 100, you know. Playing Slams again and tour events. That would be what I would like to envision. But I'm definitely still playing, God willing. And that's what I would love, to be healthy and be out here competing, to do what I love to do. I still 30 yet, so I'm still good.

Karl: I wish you a long and healthy career. Thank you for sitting down with Tennis Acumen.

DY: Thank you. Appreciate it.