In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:
Tennis Acumen: I said I'd tell you a story, Evan. Now, my wife and I are just crazy tennis fans. This would be July 2013 in Winnetka, OK? Semifinals. Jack Sock and Somdev Devaarman. Jack's hip is not working, OK? It is absolutely not working. He somehow takes the first set, he's down in the second, and it's all about to fall apart. He gets an equipment time out because his socks were wet.
Evan King: Interesting. Socks and Sock. Yeah, that's good.
Tennis Acumen: He goes over to the clubhouse. Have you been to Winnetka?
Evan King: Yes. So, it’s a short walk from center court over to the clubhouse.
Tennis Acumen: 20 minutes later, Jack has not come back yet, and Somdev is going mad.
Evan King: Oh, furious. Yeah, for sure.
Tennis Acumen: Somehow, Jack gets into the third set. It's four all, and he just can't move. So Somdev is serving at 4-4. Jack just takes four serves. He just stands there, and he doesn’t even move. Somdev serves at 5-5. Jack takes four more serves. He saved what little he had for his service games. Oh, and he managed to claw his way through and win the tiebreak.
Evan King: That's impressive.
Tennis Acumen: And he was exhausted.
Evan King: Yeah. And that's summertime, too.
Tennis Acumen: The crowd is gone, the line judges leave, Somdev is gone and there's nobody in the stands. Jack is still sitting in that chair, just exhausted. I just walked on court to Jack, patted him on the shoulder and said: “That was gritty, Jack, just gritty.”
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
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