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Reilly Opelka had a great run in Atlanta at the 250 tournament in July, 2019. On the way to the semifinals, he beat former Atlanta champion John Isner. His ranking leaped from #57 to #43, his first entry into the top 50.
photo credit: Karl Corbett (c) Tennis Acumen
This is one of twelve excerpts from an exclusive interview with Nick Chappell at the 2022 Columbus Fall Challenger. They will be posted over time in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Tennis Acumen: How do you deal with the daily grind? I lived next door to a guy who played in a Super Bowl. I asked him: “What's the hardest part about playing in the NFL?” I expected, he’d say it was fourth down and inches to go in a big game. He said: “No, it's the drills. It's the summer camp where you just get up every day and do it over and over again.” You're pretty experienced at getting up every day and doing it over and over. What is that like? Where does the discipline come from?
Nick Chappell: It's easy to feel like you're doing the same thing every day, which you are. You have to be creative and keep things interesting. That's the most important thing, because it's really easy to get in a rut, especially if you're losing. If you're winning, you're probably feeling good no matter what. Especially when you're losing, it is hard to keep being motivated and find things to work on. I guess that's normally what a coach would do. But if you're traveling by yourself, it's even more important that you find ways to engage yourself in practice. That’s really where matches are won.
Tennis Acumen: What is the most important aspect on tour, practicing before the tournament, or finding ways to practice once you've lost in the tournament.
Nick Chappell: During a tournament, you have to taper a little bit and manage your body. But when you have weeks off or you've lost early, it's really important to really hit it hard and work on things and get better. So, the hardest part is finding ways to do that. Finding ways to work on things and get better while also keeping it fresh and interesting because otherwise it's going to get boring.
This is one of twelve excerpts from an exclusive interview with Nick Chappell at the 2022 Columbus Fall Challenger.
They will be posted over time in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Tennis Acumen: Now, making the transition from college to the tour. What was that transition like ?
Nick Chappell: It took me a little while before I made a little breakthrough. It took me about a year, I guess, on tour before I made it to the finals in a couple of Futures tournaments. That got me into a few more Challengers. But it took about a year for that to happen. And I am trying to think of what really made the difference, coming out of college. Maybe I put a little too much pressure on myself right away. It took me a little while to get out of my own way on the tour. I actually played better in the team environment than coming out and going solo. Now it doesn't matter. I can't even remember what that felt like because it's so long ago. But immediately out of college, it was weird going from a team environment with a lot of people supporting you and playing for something bigger than yourself, and then coming out on and playing individual matches. That was a little bit of a letdown. The atmosphere isn't quite the same. Even at these tournaments, there are matches where you play with fans. But, on average, it's not quite the same environment as a team college atmosphere.
Tennis Acumen: Bigger crowds at college. as opposed to, say, breaking into Futures.
Nick Chappell: Yes. Oh, Futures especially. Yes. Yes.
Tennis Acumen: And do crowds affect you when you're on court?
Nick Chappell: Yes. I wish I could play in front of a huge crowd every time. I love playing in front of people.
Tennis Acumen: This is Tennis Acumen at the Columbus, Ohio Challenger, Fall of 2022. And we are here with Nick Chappell. Thanks for joining us, Nick. Tell me, how did you get started playing tennis?
Nick Chappell: Well, my mom played tennis and her mother was city champion in Fort Wayne, Indiana, so our whole family played. Tennis was really big in our family. I have a brother who's four years older than me. He started playing pretty young, I was constantly out on the courts, watching him practice. It felt like I was always on a court, actually, by the time I was five years old.
Tennis Acumen: It's in your DNA. You are wired, Nick. And what point did you think you might take it seriously?
Nick Chappell: At age 13 or 14. I was playing national tournaments in the ten- and twelve-year-old age brackets, but still playing other sports. And then about sophomore year of high school, I started doing online school to free up my time, and thought I would want to be a pro.
Tennis Acumen: And did anyone tell you how hard it was going to be ?
Nick Chappell: Probably not. I had a good junior career, especially playing some of the bigger ITF events. It was great motivation and everything, but probably a little skewed. You don't realize how much tougher the pro circuit is than the ITF circuit. But once I got to college, it was a little more eye opening. The college level of play is very good and that started giving me more perspective of where my game is.
This is one of twelve excerpts from an exclusive interview with Nick Chappell at the 2022 Columbus Fall Challenger. They will be posted over time in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Tennis Acumen at the Columbus, Ohio Fall Challenger 2022. And we are here with Rinky Hijikata, from Australia.
(photo credit: Karl Corbett)
Tennis Acumen: How did you get started in tennis? What was it like growing up?
Rinky Hijikata: My dad's a tennis coach. I grew up in Sydney, Australia. My older brother and sister used to play a little bit. I used to just go down the courts with them and pick up balls for them and started hitting a little bit. And I really loved to play because I was pretty active as a kid. So, I tried to do everything that I could. I would play any sport. And yes, tennis happened to be the one for me. .
Tennis Acumen: Excellent. And did anyone tell you how hard it was going to be for? .
Rinky Hijikata: Not right away. When you pick up a racket, when you're five, six years old, then you're just playing for the fun of it. You know, your career was never really in mind. So, I was just trying to have fun. And then maybe a bit later on, people were telling me, it's not going to be easy, but it's something that I really wanted to do. And I'm happy that I'm out here playing. .
Tennis Acumen: Are there any other sports that you played growing up? .
Rinky Hijikata: Well, I did whatever I could. I played rugby, surfing, lifesaving at the beach, whatever I could do. I just loved being active and getting out there and playing sport.
Tennis Acumen: Your parents wanted to get you out of the house because you were bouncing off the walls. .
Rinky Hijikata: Yes, the longer I was out of the house, the better.
(This exclusive interview has generated seven ‘quick read’ excerpts, to be posted at tennisacumen.com over time.)
IN 2013, Novak Djokovic made it to the 3rd round in Cincinnati, and all the way to the finals in the US Open that followed. After that, he went on a 31-match winning streak and took the titles at Beijing, Shanghai, Paris and the year-end finals at London.
Wander through Tennis Acumen's Photos of the Day, here: (LINK)
This is one of twelve excerpts from an exclusive interview with Nick Chappell at the 2022 Columbus Fall Challenger.
They will be posted over time in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Tennis Acumen: How did you get recruited into college and make the decision to go to college?
Nick Chappell: Well, it was interesting cause I wasn't really looking at TCU. I was looking at a lot of Big Ten schools, including UCLA and North Carolina. Texas Christian wasn't really on my radar. I hadn't really even heard of the school, to be honest. And then my brother transferred there during my sophomore year of high school. The TCU coach, David Rodito, who is still the head coach, took over my senior year of high school. For me, the decision was a last-minute thing. My senior year of high school, I was ready to commit to Georgia. I surprised the recruiters when I went to visit TCU and that swayed me, having my brother there.
In college, they take their practice very seriously. Everything is arranged and scheduled, so you just go out and do it. But it's a little different when you're on the road and you have to do it yourself and you have to do it week after week after week. Maybe one of them could have a good result one time, but to get ranked 200 in the world, you have to have 15 good results. You have to do it repeatedly. It is mental stamina, to not just have the level, but to be able to repeat it over and over.
Tennis Acumen: Okay. I'm hearing the same thing from both you and Tennys Sandgren.
Nick Chappell: Yes, definitely.