Tennis Acumen

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