By Scoop Malinowski
Status: ATP no. 39. Plays R16 tonight on stadium court at Delray Beach Open vs Adrian Mannarino.
Ht: 6-0 Wt: 170
DOB: December 21, 1998 In: Cincinnati, Ohio
First Tennis Memory: Is playing mixed doubles at Hilton Head – my mom and myself versus my dad and my sister. (Who won?) That I don’t remember. It’s probably a good thing I don’t remember [smiles].
Tennis Inspirations: My parents. They both played and they were kind of my teachers.
First Famous Player You Met Or Encountered: It was either Sam Querrey or John Isner, one of them two guys in Cincinnati.
Last Book Read: Meditations By Marcus Aurelius.
Current Car: Is a Jeep Wrangler.
Greatest Moment Of Career (So Far): Greatest moment of career…. that’s a tough one… one of my US Open runs. I really enjoyed last year. (Wolf beat Bautista-Agut and Tabilo before losing to Kyrgios in 3R. At 2020 US Open Wolf beat Pella and Carballes-Baena before losing to Medvedev in 3R.)
Most Painful Career Moment: Was encountering the injury. A couple of years ago. I had to get a couple of surgeries. Those are really tough.
Favorite Tournaments: Cincinnati is my favorite. Australian Open was really cool this year. I love Indian Wells. A lot of them in the States. But I haven’t played a clay season or grass season yet. So I may have new ones at the end of this year.
Funniest Player Encountered: I think Steve Johnson has got to be the funniest player. He cracks me up all the time.
Funny Tennis Memory: It’s got to be something from college. Maybe some things that I can’t talk about [smiles]… probably something in practice.
Strangest Match: There was one back in college that I had a weird handshake. I think other than that, everything’s been pretty straight up and honest and not problematic.
Favorite Players To Watch: Federer and Rafa. I felt like when they were playing each other it was amazing.
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Black raspberry chip.
Favorite Sports Outside Tennis: I love watching college basketball. To play? …probably soccer, basketball.
Best You Ever Felt On Court: I think playing at home at Ohio State my last semester of college. I felt unbeatable then.
Why Do You Love Tennis: I love that it’s all up to you. You’re always going to have a shot to win. You can’t get taken out of a game by a coach or anything like that. Sometimes you want that, to be taken out when you’re having a bad day. But you work through it. I think you become better for it.
Fiercest Competitors Encountered: I think Medvedev is very fierce. I played him once in New York. There are a lot of guys who are really competitive. But he stood out. (Lost US Open 3R to Medvedev 36 36 26.)
Embarrassing Tennis Memory: There was one match in Illinois in a Challenger where I went for a wide passing shot. I slipped on the logo. I actually made the passing shot. But I fell into the side railing, like knocked all the walls down. It was funny but a little embarrassing.
People Qualities Most Admired: I think when people are genuine. People who can pretty much naturally be themselves.
(Special thanks to Joshua T. Rey of ATP World Tour / Manager Media Information for making this interview possible this week.)
ATP · Cincinnati · Delray Beach Open · Greyson · Head tennis · JJ Wolf · Marcus Aurelius · Ohio State
Scoop Malinowski · February 16, 2023 at 11:49 am
Fast-rising young American star powerhouse is establishing himself as a force in the ATP.