Tennis Acumen

French Open 2022 quarterfinal expert picks: Djokovic vs. Nadal

This article originally appeared on The Grandstand.

Photo credit: New York Times

Expert picks are back on Tuesday for the French Open quarterfinal clash between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. A three-team panel previews the highly-anticipated action and makes its predictions.

Ricky Dimon: Nadal is coming off a five-set slugfest against Felix Auger-Aliassime. I don’t think that’s the worst thing in the world because it means the Spaniard is battle tested and he also looked good physically throughout that match while also playing at a consistently high level. I actually think it could help him in the early stages against Djokovic. In the long run, though, Djokovic’s full tank should come in handy for what will surely be a physical fight. The Serb wore down Nadal in last year’s quarterfinals and I think he can do the same again. Nighttime conditions won’t help the 13-time champion, either. Nadal is too good in Paris and playing too well right now to get blown out, but pretty much all signs are pointing toward Djokovic. Djokovic in 4: 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.

Cheryl Murray: Djokovic and Nadal will meet for the 59th time on Tuesday. It’s absurd, really–absurd that the two GOATs are contemporaries, ridiculous that they have smashed into each other almost 60 times. But perhaps the most unbelievable aspect in the most prolific rivalry of all time is each man’s consistent ability to find their way to the business end of tournaments they enter. It’s not like they bump into each other in the third round. Nope. They have never met prior to the quarterfinals in a “regular” (not Davis Cup or year-end championship) tournament…. Not once…in 59 meetings. It’s just…yeah. I get a bit misty-eyed each time they run into each other. It goes beyond special. It is completely unique to them, a narrative told in intimate detail for 16 years, offering the world a first hand look at wild joy and bitter disappointment, elation and agony, brilliance and baffled frustration. They are warriors locked in a battle of attrition that goes one way, then the other, then back again. And each time they add a chapter to their story I wonder if I’m watching them for the last time. Djokovic probably has the edge this time–even though it’s on clay and even though it’s at Roland Garros. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t doubt Nadal’s abilities or his will. I know well enough that he understands how to win in Paris better than any human ever has. But the injuries have been so disruptive, I just don’t think he’s match tough enough to get past Djokovic. He’ll give it everything he has, though; that you can be sure of. Djokovic in 5: 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-5.

Pete Ziebron (Tennis Acumen): Djokovic will be slightly fresher after making quick work of all four opponents so far, while Nadal had to go the distance in the previous round against Auger-Aliassime. In fact, the Serb has won 22 consecutive sets on clay–having corrected course after falling to Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid semis and then rolling through the field at the Rome Masters. Nadal arrived in Paris without a clay title this year and in serious pain less than two weeks prior to the start of the French Open. Nonetheless, he has once again found a way to recover and excel on the terre battue to set up this clash. The Mallorcan will need to clean up his break-point conversion significantly from the 6-for-22 performance in the last round. Meanwhile, Djokovic is serving immaculately–hitting just two double-faults in four matches. Both sets of stats are in the past, however, and are rendered meaningless once the court is taken in this highly anticipated quarterfinal. Look for Nadal to win a few more of the bigger points in the match. Nadal in 5: 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

Evan King: College to Pro Tennis

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Photo credit: University of Michigan

Tennis Acumen: Making the change from college to professional. I've heard guys say that first off, the level of play and competition goes up and the crowd size and support goes down. Is that your experience?

Evan King: I wouldn't so much say about the level of play. If you play near the top of your lineup in college, that's more or less the same levels as Futures. Unless you have a bunch of wild cards going in, you're going to start at Futures. Crowds are different, certainly. At the University of Michigan matches, you will have more than just tennis fans. You'll have fans of the university that want to support Michigan athletics. The same person will go watch tennis, softball, hockey, volleyball just because they love University of Michigan. For people to go out to these tournaments (Challenger level), they have to love tennis or a specific player to come out. So, it's two interesting dynamics. When you're playing in college, you're playing for university, your teammates and coaches, the people that you're practicing with every day. You have the bigger crowds behind you. When you turn pro, you're playing for yourself. As you go up to the Challenger circuit, the level of play is better than the college level, for the most part. Beyond that, you have the ATP circuit. When you're out as a professional, you have to muster up your own energy. You have to back yourself because unless you have the money to hire a coach or physio or a team behind you, you're out there alone. I would say that's the most difficult part. You have to hold yourself more accountable because there's not a coach on you. You're not representing the other six people on your team. If I lay an egg during a college match, I affect everybody else. The university, the coaches, the athletic department, everybody. I'm letting a whole bunch of people down. If I lay an egg on the pro circuit, I'm only letting myself down. So, it's a different kind of energy, different pressure and a high enough standard where, letting yourself down is the same as letting other people down.

 

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

Stefanos Tsitsipas - Forgotten Man in Bottom Half of 2022 Roland Garros Draw

PETE ZIEBRON

So much outrage was hurled at Roland Garros when the men's draw was announced.  How dare they place Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the same quarter.  Next, why is Carlos Alcaraz in the same half as Djokovic and Nadal?  Like Roland Garros rigged the draw...... uh, no, that does not happen.  Nadal is the 5th seed so there was a 25% chance that he would end up in the Djokovic quarter.  Bingo.

Meanwhile, last year's French Open runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas will have a barn-burner to begin his tournament.  Right out of the gate, the Greek faces Lorenzo Musetti.  All he happened to do last year in Paris was march into the round of 16 and take a two sets to love lead over Djokovic, the eventual Champion, before cramping took over and he won just one more game before retiring 0-4 down in the 5th set.  Just two weeks prior to the start of the French, Musetti faced Tsitsipas in the Lyon semifinals and took the opening set 6-4 before the Greek won 12 of the last 15 games to advance to the Final.

The Italian has not matched the form he showed one year ago in Paris.  He arrives with 14 clay court matches played this year.  In March, I had a front row Center Court vantage point for his match against American JJ Wolf at the Phoenix Challenger.  Despite winning just 5 games in the 2nd round match, I liked what I saw, namely his movement and fluidity on court as well as the ability to switch from defense to offense.

Tsitsipas had very good results at the clay court Masters, winning Monte-Carlo, reaching the semis in Madrid and the final in Rome.  However, the first coupe of days at the French have illustrated that solid match play and form at the events leading up to the tournament have not necessarily resulted in a replication of such play at this major from those who have lost and struggled to win their opening match.

While nearly everyone in the world is watching Djokovic, Nadal and Alcaraz, I prefer to focus on Tsitsipas and especially his opening match against Musetti.  Tsitsipas has won 11 of his last 13 matches at Roland Garros and 14 of his last 17 - his only losses:

 

2021 Final vs. Djokovic  76(6) 62 36 26 46

2020 Semi Final vs. Djokovic  36 26 74 64 16

2019 R16 vs. Wawrinka  67(6) 75 46 63 68

 

 

 

 

 

 

J. J. Wolf: How Hard Can It Be?

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American J. J. Wolf at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: You love this game, don't you?

J. J. Wolf: Yeah, it's a great game. It can be really difficult sometimes, but it's a good game.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Well, it is hard, you know? Did anybody in your family ever tell you how hard this was going to be?

J. J. Wolf: I grew up knowing how hard it was going to be. It's definitely a good challenge to have. My family has played so many sports. A couple of them have played pro tennis before. But I always thought it was a cool experience to play. With family members playing and coaching in professional sports, I got a lot of advice on how difficult and how much commitment it would take. It has really set in more recently, out with the tour. I’ve been rolling with it. I just never really thought about it too much. Taking that step back and being out for nine months really made me realize how much I have to take care of my body and how much commitment it will take to stay healthy and play this rigorous calendar year. It’s 10 or 11 months out of the year you're playing.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: I talked to Evan King just now. He obviously was not at 100 percent yesterday, and he just gutted it through. I told him it was just agonizing to watch, given that there were times he was sharp, clear eyed and his body did not want to do what his mind told it to do. What's it like to play when you're hurting?

J. J. Wolf: What I've been told is pain is either remembered or anticipated, and suffering is optional. I just try to think of it as not a bad thing all the time, as long as I'm not going to hurt myself worse, you know. Pain is either remembered or anticipated. It's never right in the moment. So, you choose whether you want to suffer with it or not.

Tennis Acumen: I never heard anything like that.

J. J. Wolf: When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. But it really, really annoyed me at first, when I'm hurting out there and they're telling me, you can choose whether to suffer or not. And then, I wrap my mind around it and I say: “All right, let's do it.” It's really tough coming back from those three surgeries. It was not exactly easy going when I was coming back. A lot of pain going on, but you kind of embrace it a little bit.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: So no one can really tell you, if you're out on court and hurting, whether you're about to do damage or not, whether you should retire. How do you make those calls? You don't have very many retirements in your career at all, do you?

J. J. Wolf: No, I haven't. I was playing with a double hernia for four or five tournaments last year. A doctor came to me and told me that, after a match when I was in Europe. Then I came back to the U.S. and they said: “We have to do surgery on this. We don't know how you're walking normally.” At this point, I've got great people on my team, so I've got a great trainer and physio and P.T. back home that I'll just trust. I'll tell them what's going on. They'll analyze it. And if they say I need to get scans or anything like that, I'll listen to them. If they think I'm good to go, I pretty much trust them on that. And if it’s hurting, it's hurting, it's whatever.

 

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

Evan King: How Hard Can it Be?

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: Did anyone in your family tell you how hard this was going to be?

Evan King: No, I don't think anyone truly knew. I had good coaches around me ever since juniors, and all through college and afterwards. That prepared me for what I had to expect moving from college to professional play. It is all very different, because as a pro, I am my own manager. I do the flights and travel, stringing my rackets, all that kind of stuff, whereas in college, all that stuff is done for you. You just give somebody a racket and the next day, it's done. You're told to meet at the tennis center. We're going to the airport at this time. It's all done for you. So, as far as all the things outside of tennis, I did not know how difficult that would be. But the level of play was not too much of a jump. Top level college and professional are similar, it's just all the other stuff you have to deal with that you don't have a team around you help with. I think is pretty difficult.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: There seems to be this incredible network around recruiting and grading: ‘star rankings’ for players when they're juniors. Were you aware of all of that as you were being recruited and asked to play at Michigan?

Evan King: Yes, I was aware of it. I wasn't obsessive about it. I trusted my level of play, my reputation as a person and those kinds of things more so than being a five star or a blue chip. Now, they have the Universal Tennis Ranking which coaches go off of and then those things do matter. But it wasn't going into a match thinking: “I'm playing a five star. I really need to get this match, so I can get Michigan to look at me.” I was more worried about my own development and my personal goals, as a junior. I did want to go pro. So, I was I was more thinking about that kind progression, more so than worrying about the immediate results or ratings or rankings. I was thinking more long term, which helped me put less pressure on myself.

 

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

Aleks Vukic: Grinding it Out

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed Australian Aleks Vukic at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Photo credit: The Australian

Tennis Acumen: Let's go back to the very beginning. When you woke up this morning, I talked to a guy who  played in the NFL. He was a linesman on a Super Bowl team, and I asked him one day: “Hey, Doug, what's the hardest part of playing in the NFL? Is it fourth down and 20 yards to go with the game on the line?” And he told me: “It's summer, getting up every day, doing the same drills over and over. That’s the hard part.” Aleks, how do you deal with that routine and does it become a grind somehow?

 

Aleks Vukic: I think it can, every stage in every tournament, it's different. So this is my last tournament, the very last month of the year, so I'm very well aware that it is my last tournament. It's very easy for me to push through this week. I know it's one last week and I can give it my all. This is my fourth week in a row. I played Vegas to start this swing. Yeah, it's a different mindset to set out for four weeks, and I'm looking at finishing strong the last four weeks. It's just a matter of breaking things up. Sometimes, you need a few weeks off to recharge, not think about your goals so much. Enjoy life. Otherwise, if it becomes very monotonous. Spice it up in a different way. Have a clear perspective on the next few weeks and then recharge and do it again. It never becomes stale, because I’ll have different goals for different weeks, a different mentality for different weeks.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: So you're not waking up in January saying: “Oh, my God. Thirty six weeks to go.” You break it down into smaller pieces, focusing on those.

Aleks Vukic: I'll take a break for a week and then I'll focus on the next swing and recharge, because otherwise it's too long and you're not present.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Any advice for younger players coming up?

Aleks Vukic: Guys that want to be pro? Yeah. Go easy on yourself. There's a lot of pressure and there's a lot of work to do, but surround yourself with positive people. Know there's more to life in tennis, and it is a journey, it's not about the end result. And whether you win or not, it's just about getting better each day. Winning will come if you're in the right mindset, that's what I believe. If they can stay in the right mindset and be positive, do the right things, then good things happen, for sure.

 

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

 

Photo of the Day: Fernando Gonzales

Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi, born 29 July 1980, is a former professional tennis player from Chile. During his career he made it to the quarterfinal round of all four Grand Slam tournaments. He played his only major final at the 2007 Australian Open, losing to top-seeded Roger Federer.

 He is the fourth male tennis player in history to have won each Olympic medal (gold in doubles and bronze in singles at Athens 2004, and silver in singles at Beijing 2008).

In 2005, Gonzales had a nice run at the Cincinnati masters event, defeating Novak Djokovic and David Nalbandian on his way to a third-round loss against Nikolai Davydenko.

Photo credit: Karl Corbett, © 2021 Tennis Acumen

Evan King: World Team Tennis

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: And you have played World Team Tennis. Tell me about that. I've never, never talked to a World Team Tennis player.

Evan King: That's a lot of fun. it brings a team aspect back. I will say one of the biggest things about tennis as an individual sport is that rarely when you practice with somebody, do you want the person that you're practicing with to get better. In World Team Tennis I'm practicing with my teammates. If they're playing well, the team does well, we do better. We win more matches, all that kind of stuff. If I'm playing a practice set against other pros out here, I want to beat them. I don't care how their practice goes because I want to do the best I can do. If they're playing well, they can potentially beat me. That's not good, you know what I mean?

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Yes, it's super interesting.

Evan King: So, World Team Tennis is less pressure filled, and it is really a break in the season because, yes, tennis is an individual sport. You want to be number one, individually. At World Team Tennis, you all are coming together, men and women, singles players, doubles players all have a common goal. We all try to help each other out for those two or three weeks to get better. And, I mean, it's fun. There's music, it's a faster pace because they only play up to five and they have no-ad scoring. They play lets. So, they do little things that make it a bit more exciting and more fun. Coming together for a common goal in what's usually an individualistic sport is a pretty special thing. Yeah, I think it's fun.

 

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

Aleks Vukic: A Life Outside of Tennis

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed Australian Aleks Vukic at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: So, Aleks, when you have free time, how do you entertain yourself or feed yourself? On tour and off? you do a lot of reading, listen to music?

Aleks Vukic: At home in Australia, I'll just go out with mates, have dinner, see a different friend each day. When I'm on tour, it's a bit different. Depends on which one of my mates is out on tour that week. We’ll go and grab dinner. Then, I'll have some alone time towards the end of the day. I enjoy alone time. Surf some stuff on the internet and go to bed and do it again. My life is not entertaining when it comes to that. I really enjoy the simple things.

 

Tennis Acumen: How about music and TV shows?

Aleks Vukic: I like softer EDM (electronic dance music). Hayden James or something like that (Hayden James is an Australian DJ, songwriter and record producer from Sydney, Australia.) I like Aussie artists and more low-key music. I always look forward to Spotify when new music comes out, always try and give it a listen. I love music. I think it's a similar to food where it's like every day feeling something a little different. I listen to like Mumford and Sons some days, and it just depends on the mood.

 

Tennis Acumen: Favorite foods?

Aleks Vukic: When I go back home, my mom makes an unbelievable Spaghetti Bolognese, so I love that dish. I love pastas. I like a good burger as well.

 

Tennis Acumen: Now, if you're sitting at home and friends are coming over, what would you cook? What's your ‘go to’ meal?

Aleks Vukic: I'm not a great cook, so I probably wouldn't cook anything. I would. I probably just order pizza, to be honest, just straight up.

 

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

Tommy Robredo - 3 Memorable Tournaments

PETE ZIEBRON

A few weeks short of his 40th Birthday, Tommy Robredo will retire from professional tennis in Barcelona this week.

Three events in his career stood out to me as I look back at the Spaniard's career.

Robredo plays Cincinnati 2006 - Photo credit: Karl Corbett

Masters Series Hamburg 2006

Robredo took full advantage of the fact that both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer withdrew from the Masters Series event in Hamburg in 2006.  Nadal defeated Federer in the Rome Final in five hours and five minutes in five sets the day before Hamburg was to begin.  In 2006, first round BYES did not exist for the top eight seeds and concurrently, some events staged a best of five final.

As a result, Robredo, ranked 12th at the time defeated world number sixteen Radek Stepanek 6-1 6-3 6-3 to win his lone Masters Series title.  Prior to the final, Robredo dropped just one set, the opening set in the second round to Florent Serra of France.  He also defeated Mario Ancic in the semis and David Ferrer in the quarterfinals.

Roland Garros 2013

At the French Open in 2013, Tommy Robredo won three consecutive matches after trailing two sets to love!  Following a straight set win in the opening round over Jurgen Zopp of Estonia, Robredo dropped the first two sets in his second match against Igor Sljsling of the Netherlands before storming back and losing just five games to claim a 6-7 4-6 6-3 6-1 6-1 victory.

In the third round, Gael Monfils of France pocketed the first two sets when Robredo steadied his game to win 2-6 6-7 6-2 7-6 6-2 to advance to the round of sixteen.  Here, countryman Nicolas Almagro would again take a two sets to love lead before Tommy Robredo would ultimately prevail 6-7 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4.

Reaching the quarterfinals, Robredo had little left as world number five David Ferrer rolled to the semis with a 6-2 6-1 6-1 victory.

Cincinnati 2013

Later in 2013, I would witness a match that featured extended rally after extended rally on Court 9 , the sunken court in Cincinnati.

As I headed to the Robredo- Stan Wawrinka second round match, an announcement was broadcast in the press box that Marion Bartoli's press conference would be starting soon.  Odd, I thought, Bartoli lost her match earlier today.  Yes, she won Wimbledon a few weeks prior.

The evening match between Robredo and Wawrinka went back and forth and the Swiss saved seven of ten break points against.  The final scoreline was 7-5 3-6 6-3 in favor of Robredo.  

The match was especially memorable for me due to the high caliber of play as well as the magnificent setting of Court 9 (the old Court 3) in Cincinnati.  Those that have been fortunate to watch matches on this court know how truly special it is from a tennis perspective.  Ironically, Marion Bartoli's press conference was to announce that she was retiring form professional tennis immediately.

Tommy Robredo is a Wild Card at the ATP Barcelona 500 this week.  His opponent is a yet to be determined Qualifier.

 

 

 

Aleks Vukic: Getting Started

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed Australian Aleks Vukic at the Champaign Challenger tournament.

Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: All right, we're rolling. Nov. 16, Tennis Acumen in Champaign, Illinois at the 2021 Challenger event. With Aleks Vukic, from Australia. Aleks, one of the things our readers always want to know is how you got started in tennis. Tell me about that. When did you first discover the game?

Aleks Vukic: My brother, is six and a half years older than me, so he was playing and I was just picking up balls. He started when he was 11, so I must have been four and a half. And yeah, that's how I got into it. It was basically because of him. My parents didn't play any sports. He started playing and then I followed suit.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: When did you discover you loved it?

Aleks Vukic: Truly loved it? Probably when I got to college. I always liked it. Once I got to college, I really loved it, and that love grows every year I play. It started off slow because I was playing both tennis and soccer until 13. Only tennis now. 

 

 

Tennis Acumen: And how did you end up at the University of Illinois growing up in Sydney, Australia?

Aleks Vukic: I was in Florida playing a Futures tournament, and I was up against Jared Hiltzik. I played him and Brad Dancer, the coach here (at the University of Illinois) saw me. He said: “If you're interested in playing tennis at college, let us know.” After a few months on the pro tour, I realized I was not ready for it. I made the rounds at a few colleges and decided to come here.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: For a lot of years, I was a professional drummer. My mom was a musician, and when she saw me heading in that direction, she said: “You can do this.” But she told me how hard it was going to be. Did anyone ever tell you how hard it was going to be playing professionally, running your own affairs and all of that? Or did you have to discover that on your own?

Aleks Vukic: They told me it was harder to do a nine to five job. They said: “You would like this more.” And I said: “Fair enough.” I think you do a nine to five or something you don't really like, it's just too much. My parents kept telling me I just wouldn't like it and my parents know me best. So I trusted them.

 

 

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, @aleks.vukic, Vuki_SMASH23

 

Evan King: Getting Started

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: How did you get started playing tennis?

Evan King: For me, I was just born at a time when my dad was obsessed with the sport. Yeah, he was super, super into it. I've got an older brother who would take me around and just throw us balls, hit back and forth. I actually started playing a lot at the same club that Donald Young was playing at, as well. My brother's a little bit older than Donald. They grew up playing with each other and I was always around. So, I've been playing pretty much as long as I can remember. My family has videos and pictures of me as a toddler, just running around with a racket.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: So, it was a natural. When it came to going pro, did you get support from your family?

Evan King: Their big thing was for me to finish college, which I did. So, I graduated University of Michigan and then, after that, they supported me in terms of what I wanted to do. And as long as I had a degree, they thought it was worthwhile. And I had a good enough college career where it merited the ability to go pro.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: And so, they could see it was a reasonable thing to do.

Evan King: Yeah, for sure. So, they definitely had my back on it, which was awesome. And then pretty soon after, I was doing well enough where I was breaking even. I trained a lot at Michigan. I was a volunteer assistant when I wasn't on the road, I was teaching lessons there to pay for a lot of the stuff as well. So yeah, it was it was pretty cool.

 

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

 

Photo of the Day: Juan Martin del Potro

Delray Beach, Florida, Juan Martin del Potro.....

In 2016, following wrist surgery, the popular Argentine returned to tennis after 11 months.

He had surprising success, beating American Dennis Kudla, Aussie John-Patrick Smith and  Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, all in straight sets... . In his first semifinal since 2014, he fell to eventual champion Sam Querrey. Here. he signs an autograph for an appreciative fan.

  

J. J. Wolf: Highlights and Lowlights

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American J. J. Wolf at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: Any highlights or lowlights in this disrupted year?

J. J. Wolf: There have been a couple of both. Last year, I'd say one of the highlights was qualifying for the 2020 Cincinnati Masters. Even though it was in New York, it still really meant a lot to me. That and making the third round at the 2020 U.S. Open was pretty cool. This year, coming back from nine months off and a couple of surgeries, getting that fifth challenger title in Vegas meant a lot to me. But, I'm just working on my game a lot, not worrying about results too much.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: You pretty well have to be obsessive to be in this game professionally, right?

J. J. Wolf: Right.

Tennis Acumen: Going back to the beginning, waking up every morning and knowing you just got to do it one more day. How do you manage your hitting time, your sleep time, your meals? what's it like to keep the machine going every day?

J. J. Wolf: It's hard on the on the road, especially because you've got different match times. You don't really know exactly when you're going to play. It could be a morning match, afternoon or night match. And, every place you go is different, with different facilities. You have to figure out what works for you that week and create a routine. I've been trying to do that more. It was very hard during quarantine when you couldn't leave the hotels at tournaments. But now, I can go out and get breakfast and walk around, ease my mind. And not be thinking about tennis all the time. I am trying to take care of my body and not get away from the game too much like last year.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: So, in terms of diet, how strict are you, J.J.??

J. J. Wolf: I try to be pretty good about it. When I was coming back from the surgeries, I couldn't use my core really to do anything for about six months. So I was really strict with it. After coming back there, I probably let it go a little bit during my off time. But I got it back pretty quickly and got back into shape pretty fast, so I was lucky with that.

 

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

Evan King: Favorite Places on Tour

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: Well, that draws us right into favorite cities on the tour.

Evan King: I think Melbourne. I love Australia. Australia is awesome. So, Melbourne's good because there's no language barrier. Travel is a lot easier. I liked Taiwan as well. I had a really good experience in Taiwan. I thought the food was great. A lot of people came out, and they ran a really good event.

Tennis Acumen: Do you ever get time to really go and sightsee?

Evan King: It all depends on the result of the tournament. That would be an advantage of doing poorly in a tournament. I have more time off to actually see a place. But on a week where I'm winning matches, it's more so hotel and tennis courts. Maybe a couple of meals out, but then you don't actually get to sightsee. So, one of my bigger regrets was I spent two weeks in India in 2017. I didn't get to see anything and I've never been back. I've been to India, but I didn't experience India, I didn't actually get to travel around because the schedules just didn't allow for it. We go to some pretty cool places and very interesting places. Sometimes you do see them, sometimes you don't. If you ask five different players about travel, some people have more of a focus on: “I want to see the world.” Others have more of a focus on tennis, tennis, tennis, which both work, but different people have different philosophies on it.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: I asked Tennys Sandgren the same question. he said Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris is his ‘go to’ place. He finds that just the most stunning place. What would your ‘go to’ place be?

Evan King: Hmm, that's interesting. I don't know if I have an immediate one. I think it's more about people. If I'm traveling with people that I really get along with, regardless of where it is, I'll have a good time, be at peace and enjoy myself. It is more that than specific places.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: OK, that’s more a social point of view. And speaking of airports and hotels and cars, I worked as a rock drummer for a long time. You know, there are a lot of cities I never really saw. I can't say: “I've been there.” We just went to this hall and played four sets. Now the other thing about rock and roll, and this is where people get in trouble. Too much time on your hands. How do you deal with that? I mean, you're not going to get into excess or go off the deep end. But how do you handle the down time and the sheer boredom that can happen to you?

Evan King: You need another passion to fill your days. I'm really randomly into battle rap. There's something about guys creatively messing around with the English language that I really love. So, for me right now, I watch a ton of that. Tennis players, whether it's in juniors or college or pros, we're good at time management, filling time. A lot of it's stretching. I had my match yesterday. Yeah, I probably only played for two hours yesterday, an hour to warm up, so that leaves another 12 hours of being awake. A lot of stretching, lifting weights. Watch a little bit of film. That's something that I'm trying to do more of: just scouting opponents, scouting myself, trying to figure out ways I can be better and work on that. I know some people are taking classes online, I don't have a great answer for you on that for me because I'm not doing much productive outside of this.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: Well, if you're working on your game, that's productive and if you have discipline behind you in that, it fills up the time.

Evan King: it's just a lot of recovery, whether it's physical or mental, especially now. At the end of the year, we've all been playing since January. Eleven months in, everything's a little bit achy. Mentally, you're a little bit fried. It's more so staying healthy, staying fresh as possible at this point in time, and for me, it's watching battle rap, that's just what I am into.

 

 

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

Kudla vs. Wolf & Not Gasquet vs. Verdasco in SF at Arizona Tennis Classic

PETE ZIEBRON in PHOENIX

Following his win over Richard Gasquet, Denis Kudla stated on court that "This is the toughest Challenger in the world."  It is.  Four former Top Ten players were in the draw - three played in the Quarterfinals on Friday and all three lost.

On a gorgeous 77F sunny day at the Phoenix Country Club, Denis Kudla opened play on Center Court with a 6-3 6-4 win over Frenchman Richard Gasquet.  The American, who was born in Kiev, Ukraine, did not double fault all day, hit seven aces and saved the only break point against en route to victory.

Gasquet played competitive tennis throughout the match, however was distracted midway through the second set when an off-site garbage truck was doing its duty and creating a bit of a disturbance.  Gasquet was serving at 30-0 and on serve in the set when the  clanging of metal took place on and off for three minutes.  The yellow clad Gasquet was clearly agitated, lost the next few points and crushed a ball out of Center Court, costing him a ball abuse warning.  Kudla stood his ground and simply put balls back into play as the errors from Gasquet in this game led to the only break of the second set.  

Kudla protected his serve all day and arrives in the semifinals without dropping a set in the tournament.

Next up, American JJ Wolf matched up with Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.  Like Kudla, Wolf won his first two matches in straight sets.

Fernando Verdasco, 2010   (c) Tennis Acumen

Verdasco dropped the opening service game when a let cord winner by Wolf dropped just over the net.  He glared at his box in disbelief and disgust, however was able to get the break back three games later to square the set at 2-all.  That would be the only break he would manage as Wolf saved the next six the rest of the way.

Several long rallies throughout the match were on display as both players were digging deep.  Wolf created his own break point opportunities and capitalized on a large one as Verdasco served to stay in the opening set.  The Cincinnati native took the set, broke midway through the second set for the lead and concurrently staved off Verdasco's break point opportunities.

Gasquet and Verdasco played 15 times on the ATP Tour with Verdasco holding an 8-7 H2H mark.  It appeared that these former top ten players would meet yet again.  Kudla and Wolf would not be denied on this day and both arrive in the semifinals without dropping a set.

Later in the day, David Goffin, the third former top ten player to take Center Court on Friday, lost to Liam Broady of Great Britain.  Broady will play Daniel Altmaier of Germany, who defeated Radu Albot of Moldova to close out the day session.

Three Alternates and Wild Card JJ Wolf comprise the Arizona Tennis Classic Semifinals.  Four former top ten ATP players have been eliminated.  Denis Kudla is a man of his word.

 

David Goffin Advances to Quarters in Phoenix Challenger.

PETE ZIEBRON in PHOENIX

David Goffin at the Cincinnati Masters tournament, 2017 (c) Tennis Acumen

David Goffin closed out the second round at the Arizona Tennis Classic with a 7-6 3-6 6-4 win over American Wild Card Christopher Eubanks at the Phoenix Country Club.  The Belgian did not serve particularly well, hitting 12 double faults, however he was able to save 17 of 21 break points throughout the match.

Goffin is the #8 seed and is one of the few players that also played in the initial Arizona Tennis Classic in 2019, when he was the #1 seed.  Following the match, Goffin said that he was happy to get the win since the Eubanks serve often stretched him out wide as it was well placed in the corners.  Both players hit 10 aces and Goffin did well to block back the serve from the American which topped out in the low 130 mph range on the night.

Eubanks saved 3 of 6 break points and all three came in a game midway through the second set when he fell behind 0-40.  He rode that confidence in saving that particular game to win the middle set.  The former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket is threat on the ATP Tour.  On Wednesday, he defeated veteran Qualifier Gilles Simon 6-4 7-5.  Yesterday he certainly held his own against Goffin.  Both opponents are former Top Ten players.

Next up for Goffin is Liam Broady of Great Britain.  Broady has dropped just 8 games in his two straight set victories and was added to the Main Draw as an Alternate.  Goffin, meanwhile, has been taken to three sets in each of his first two matches in Phoenix.

 

 

Benoit Paire Dazzles Phoenix Crowd En Route to Straight Set Victory

PETE ZIEBRON in PHOENIX

Benoit Paire, far right playing cards with Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon as Nicolas Mahut observes.  Pete Ziebron Images

Benoit Paire, the #1 seed in the Arizona Tennis Classic $125K Challenger in Phoenix wasted absolutely no time putting on a show for spectators on Center Court on Wednesday night.  On the third point of the match, the crafty Frenchman hit an approach drop shot that had so much spin, that it then bounced back over Paire's side of the net before Emilio Nava had any chance to make a play on the ball.  That effort gave Paire a 40-0 lead, and he closed out the opening game a point later.

Later in the opening set, Paire hit an approach shot tweener - he lost that point but the crowd was thrilled.  Deep in the opening set and serving at 5-5 deuce, Paire hit another tweener to win the point.  Certainly a rather dangerous time to hit such a shot, however Paire was feeling loose all night.  He won that game, broke Nava to win the first set 7-5 and then won the first four games of the second set.

During this game, while serving at 4-0, Paire was not thrilled with some of the officiating and set his racquet on the baseline and walked halfway up the doubles alley to point to a mark where he felt the ball landed out.  Judging from Paire's hand gesture explanation and protest, the ball was at least three inches out.  Paire would be broken at that game and he then rocketed a ball out of the stadium and on to the adjacent golf course at the Phoenix Country Club.

Benoit Paire would hit a third tweener of the night later in the set and would advance to the second round with a 7-5 6-2 victory.

Earlier in the day, Center Court featured FOUR former top ten ATP players: Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet, David Goffin and Fernando Verdasco!  Keep in mind, this is a $125K Challenger event.  The Arizona Tennis Classic draw is certainly better than many ATP 250 events and nearly as good as some ATP 500 tournaments.  

This is why I fondly refer to the Arizona Tennis Classic as the Phoenix 375. 

In fact, the first match of the evening featured Emil Ruusuvouri of Finland against American Wild Card Brandon Nakashima.  This was a rematch of last year's Atlanta 250 Semifinal, won by the American.  This time, the Finn relied on a steady serve down the middle and consistently broke down the Nakashima backhand en route to a 6-3 6-3 win.

Regarding the former top ten players, all but Simon won their matches to advance to the second round on Thursday.  Paire will play Radu Albot of Moldova, Gasquet will open Thursday's action against Facundo Bagnis of Argentina and Goffin will play American Wild Card Christopher Eubanks who defeated Simon in straight sets on Wednesday.

Indian Wells may have Nick Kyrgios, however the Arizona Tennis Classic features Benoit Paire and his active tweener game.  What will Paire bring to the table today?

Evan King: Playing Hurt - Part 2 of 2

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: We’re talking about aches, pains and injuries, Evan.
You were not 100% physically. You're up 5-1 in the second set tiebreaker and it was painful to watch. Your mind is saying: “I've got this.” and your body is just saying: “Please, no.” You managed to win that set.

Evan King: Yes, now that was funny too, At the beginning of the third set, I was thinking OK, I've got some momentum. That's good. And no, that went away pretty quickly. I set foot on the court. I knew what I had in the tank. Go out there, compete. I saved a match point or two, which was good. I'm excited about that. But then I just did not have enough to get through it. Yeah, I'm still a little bit rattled from the match because obviously when you are a competitor, you go out there, you want to win. I wish I would've won, right?

 

 

Tennis Acumen: So how often are guys playing hurt?

Evan King: Hurt…. Hurt is a strong word. I would not consider myself hurt, less than 100 percent is different than being hurt. You don't play hurt.

Tennis Acumen: Because I've had guys tell me everybody's hurt all the time.

Evan King: I believe that, especially in November. No one's actually 100 percent. Maybe in January. I would hope so. In January, everyone's 100 percent because you have a month off. But in November, no one feels great. You just manage what you can, and you compete to the best of your ability with whatever you have on that day. There was a withdrawal earlier today. In singles he went into the match saying:”I know I have something going on, but I'm going to push it and see what I can get out of it.” And then the injury got aggravated. Maybe it went a little bit worse than he expected. And maybe there are some long-term issues that could happen if he kept playing or something like that. I have a lot of fatigue wear and tear from travel this season and everything, but I'm not hurt. That's a strong, strong word. I would not be in Champaign playing this event if I were hurt.

Tennis Acumen: Yeah, I appreciate the clarification there.

Evan King: Yeah, but it's more just wear and tear and crazy fatigue and yeah, just aches and pains and random things.

Tennis Acumen: It would be better said that everybody is playing ‘hurting’ rather than ‘hurt’.

Evan King: exactly. I would say that for sure.

 

 

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

Evan King: Playing Hurt - Part 1 of 2

In 2021, Tennis Acumen interviewed American Evan King at the Champaign Challenger tournament. Here is a part of that conversation:

Tennis Acumen: You were obviously not 100 percent physically yesterday. How do you push through?

Evan King: If you decide to start a match, you finish the match. I guess that's my code of honor, unless something is actually broken. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. As a professional, maybe I withdrew from one match. As you said, yesterday, I did not have my 100 percent.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: You know, I won't get into details on the injury itself. I'm just looking at the mindset and the spirit behind it. You were down a break early in the second set. Time to change ends, and you went off in the corner of the court and just sat on a stool. What was your thought process or what was going through your head?

Evan King: I was just trying to clear my mind and find some sort of peace because I was also frustrated that I was down a set and a break. Very frustrated. I needed to kind of be to myself. Find some peace. Try to get something out of the match. Whether it's a win, whether it's feeling good, whether it's executing certain things, just simplifying the game in my mind. I was taking it down to just a couple of shots I felt like I could execute extremely well. It was all mental, all regrouping and focusing in and really locking in for that moment.

 

 

Tennis Acumen: To be honest, Evan, it was agonizing watching the match because I could tell your mind wanted to do things and your body was saying: “Please stop. Please let me go.”

Evan King: It's a very frustrating part of tennis in general, but it's also interesting because I do focus on doubles now. My career is based off of doubles. It's making sure I stay ready for that as well. Win or lose on Tuesday, I knew I had to compete on Wednesday. Even working out for both of them is different. You use different skills when you're practicing for doubles and training for doubles rather than singles. There is playing and there is recovering. Played a match two days ago. In the second set, it got pretty physical. (King defeated Ruan Roelofse in a 24-point 2nd set tiebreak.) He was going through it too, though, because you can't say it was just me. I know my opponent was also feeling it physically as well. We all have issues we're going through, so we just try to compete and get through it.

Tennis Acumen: It was impressive, Evan.

Evan King: I appreciate that.

 

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