By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
While NCAA singles champion from the University of Georgia Ethan Quinn lost his first round match at the U.S. Open in straight sets to world No. 76 Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain, there was not a lot separating the two. Perhaps it was just a little bit more experience that paid off for Zapata Miralles, playing in his 10th career Grand Slam tournament, in his 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win over Quinn, who was playing in the main draw of singles at a Grand Slam for the first time.
“I mean it’s never fun losing, obviously,” said the 19-year-old Quinn following the match. “I felt like I was definitely in the match the entire time. I never felt like I was blown off the court. I mean credit to him, he was able to make it a little really physical match.”
Quinn was broken only once in the first set, in the third game of the match, and then again only once in the second, a missed overhead and a fluke floating bird mishit lob shot from the Spanaird landing just in playing a part in deciding that game. Quinn actually rolled to win three straight games in the third set after being broken to open the set, but then lost the last five games of the match.
“I had a good start, got broken in the second game after being up, which was unfortunate and had to battle back, but definitely had my opportunities throughout the match, had break points,” said Quinn, ranked No. 475 in the ATP singles rankings. “In the third set was even up a break, wasn’t able to convert. But like I said, him making it a physical match made it a little bit tougher for me to continue at the level I was at. I mean I started really feeling it late in the second, early in the third, but he was able to really make it physical and make it tough for me to continue on that level.”
With a win, Quinn would have had the opportunity to play 23-time major champion Novak Djokovic likely in Arthur Ashe Stadium. However, he does pocket a first-round paycheck of $81,000 which will help with his expenses as he embarks on his professional career. He also received sponsorship opportunities with Prudential (watch here https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/video/ethan-quinns-road-us-open-102525203 and for the 2023 U.S. Open with FICO.
Zapata Miralles, who had former Top five player and former French Open runner-up David Ferrer in his box supporting him, was complementary of the young Quinn.
“I know from the beginning that it’s very tough match because Ethan has amazing talent,” said Zapata Miralles. “He’s very young and he plays very good, he plays too much aggressive. So I’m very happy with the victory and I am sure that Ethan, with more matches, will go up in the rankings.”
The 26-year-old Spaniard, however, said that his consistency made him prevail in the end.
“I think the important thing of the match today is that I played so solid without mistakes,” said Zapata Miralles. “I start to return better, more and more and start to feel better physically. I played very solid and waited a little bit, the mistake from Ethan and I’m very happy with my performance today.”
Quinn incredibly won the NCAA singles title for the Georgia Bulldogs last May in Orlando, Florida, coming back from quadruple match point down to win the singles title, which you can read about here: https://www.worldtennismagazine.com/archives/22002 He joined the likes of John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors as freshman to win an NCAA men’s singles title. Weeks after winning the title, Quinn announced that he would turn professional. However, he will continue to be a student at Georgia, taking classes online.
He will also play in the U.S. Open men’s doubles tournament pairing with incoming Stanford University freshman Nico Godsick, with whom he won the USTA Boy’s 18s doubles title last year and reached the second round of doubles at the 2022 U.S. Open.
