Following his 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 first round loss to Spain’s Bernabé Zapata Miralles at the 2023 U.S. Open, NCAA singles champion from the University of Georgia Ethan Quinn answered questions from the press in Media Room No. 6 at the Bud Collins Media Room inside Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
QUESTION:
So just talk a little bit about the match, just how the flow went and so forth. You got off to a big start and then loose game and then kind of playing catch up after that.
ETHAN QUINN:
Yeah, I mean it’s never fun losing, obviously. 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 really physical match. I think that’s what he does so well. I mean that’s why he is top 100 in the world. He’s able to really put you in uncomfortable positions and my coach before the match, he was like be comfortable with the uncomfortable and I think he just got the better me a little bit there. I mean from the start definitely had the energy from the crowd, which was really nice for me. Really made me feel like I was back in Athens, which I really appreciated. I mean that’s something that I’m always going to miss, probably being in the professional tours, just not having that Athens energy in the Athens crowd, but for the most part, yeah, from the start 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 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 with my forehand doing what I was doing really well, but he was able to really make it physical and make it tough for me to continue that level.
QUESTION
But what can you draw from this experience? I mean it’s like a first you got to get your feet wet. It’s like your first Grand Slam main draw but what can you draw from having this experience playing in the US Open, playing in front of a big crowd, playing the number 76 guy in the world. Really only a couple points here or there, really separated you
ETHAN QUINN
Yeah, I mean you can definitely take away how physical this level is. Always room to improve physically. I mean I’m only 19 years old so I definitely have a lot of room to improve there. Definitely have a great team behind me that’s given me the opportunity to really improve in that level and improve in that aspect. I think that’s probably the number one thing, just getting to that physicality there and then honestly just the discipline on court and he’s a prime example of just really making you earn your points. I feel like I definitely could have done a better job in that area, just making him try and win more points. Gave him a little bit too many unforced errors. Definitely had the right intention behind my shots, but just was giving a little bit, giving too many free points, easy buckets is what some coaches, one of my coaches like to say from Georgia. And so just really making it tougher on him would be the second thing I could definitely use and learn.
QUESTION:
As Randy was asking right there towards you and you mentioned this Brad Stine, to get a guy like him and to be your coach, how did that come to be for you and how did you have that full trust with how he’s so respected, but you still have to vibe with the coach no matter who it is. What made that be the sell point for you to be the coach for you?
ETHAN QUINN
I mean, he’s been coaching me since I was six years old. He was one of my first coaches I ever even had being both of us from Fresno, California, and he lives five minutes from me. It really was a no brainer, honestly. We were both members at the same club. Whenever he would come back home from coaching, whoever he was coaching at the time, whenever he would come back home, I mean he was still my coach and then when he was on the road, we would be texting every single day about whatever it was on court stuff and even off court information. It was really an easy choice for me to be part of that team. And then honestly, COVID was when it really made sense to me the most. He was kind of stuck at home, if you’d like to say he was stuck in Fresno. Me and him got to practice every single day and really from there my game shot up. That’s when I became number one recruit in the country. I had my best results in junior ITFs there. And honestly, I think it was a result of just being with Brad every single day, being with such a high level coach every single day.
QUESTION:
We had John Isner of course say that this was going to be his final US Open. And have you had a chance to talk with him or engage with him? Just your whole thoughts on with him and if you had any experience with
ETHAN QUINN:
Yeah, he’s been a great mentor even starting from last year at the US Open. That’s where I met him the first time here, just upstairs after one of my first qualifying match. So he’s been a great mentor for me. I got added to the UGA alumni chat even though I’m not an alumni and he’s been great.
QUESTION:
He added you?
ETHAN QUINN:
No, Manny Diaz. He’s the leader of the pack, so he added me to it and John was one of the first people to welcome me into it, both physically and in a message in the chat. So yeah, it’s great getting to have him in my corner and honestly, there’s a few other college guys like Steve Johnson who he’s been great. A few of these challenger tournaments this summer. He’s been there with me just talking, me practicing with him, just getting to hear his perspective has been great for me.
QUESTION:
That Georgia experience for you to be on a campus, going for a third time national championship football, tremendous success in track and many other sports, just the whole vibe of being down there in Athens for you, how’s it been?
ETHAN QUINN:
Absolutely incredible. Honestly, I didn’t think that getting to college would’ve been as productive as it was. Obviously my first semester being a Redshirted student, it gave me the chance to kind of dip my toes into a little bit of the distractions, really get my ability to know when and where I should be, getting that opportunity was really good for me leading into my first season. Once I was able to get into my first season, I realized that I had already had the college experience. I had already had all the experiences that I could have imagined, and so then I was able to focus on tennis and really felt like I wasn’t missing out getting to be surrounded by such professional athletes. I mean, I think the USA World track. I don’t even know someone in track. Matt
QUESTION:
Matt Boling. Yep, Matt
ETHAN QUINN: Boling. I mean just being surrounded by him and there’s plenty of other guys on the track team that are just world-class athletes and then obviously the football team just being surrounded by such world-class athletes, it really brings up your level and I really appreciate all of that.
QUESTION:
So Manny and Jamie are obviously great coaches and they put great stuff in your ear, but what kind of interaction did you have with Kirby? I know his son plays, but have you had any interaction with him or has he ever told you be the hunter or something?
ETHAN QUINN:
Actually on my first day on campus actually when I was on my visit, I got to meet Kirby. Maybe that was the selling point for Manny and Jamie, but then before the SEC Championship and I think actually no, it was before we played Harvard. Kirby came into our room and he was into our lounge and he really gave us one of those football talks. There definitely was a lot of swearing. I think he put it down a little bit for us because it wasn’t a room of 60 guys like the football guys. So toned it down a little bit for us, but still had the same message, same intensity, and then we came out and played Harvard biggest crowd we had with the incredible level of energy and honestly, I was thinking about him and everything he said the entire time.
QUESTION
I want to ask you real quick, because Ben Shelton, who’s on the other side in terms of Florida side of the world’s largest cocktail party. He had an incredible rise last year and then this year Australian Open. And just seeing that and how you definitely could replicate that even though it is something that is not just easy to do, but something that is possible to do. Just your whole thoughts on this whole year with that and how that gives you inspiration to make the impact right away on tour.
ETHAN QUINN
Yeah, definitely. It’d be great to replicate that. Obviously there’s a possibility that I don’t, and I mean obviously it was a really incredible thing that he did. So I’ve kind of realized that I needed to not have my expectations quite as high. I just need to realize that my pathway might be a little bit different, might take a little bit longer, but whatever pathway it is, I’m sure I’ll get to the same level as him and maybe I’ll be playing him and Grand Slam finals eventually.
QUESTION:
You’re a thoughtful guy, man. It’s been a pleasure talking to you, man.
ETHAN QUINN
Thank you. I appreciate it.
QUESTION:
So speaking of that, I remember you were saying last year at the U.S. Open that you wanted to follow in Ben’s footsteps. You wanted to be the next guy and maybe you said that in Vero Beach, and then sure enough you get the Kalamazoo final, like Ben did you win the NCAA title like Ben did and you got to the US Open here. Ben played the first round of the US Open. He lost. Now are you going to be probably playing in that USTA Pro Circuit challengers this fall where you’re playing like Fairfield and Charlottesville and Champaign and so forth. So talk a little bit about that and that’s really where he made his moves.
ETHAN QUINN
There’s definitely a lot of chances for our similarities in our pathway to be very linear. Again, Ben had a phenomenal fall last year, which was impressive, knowing that he was still taking classes at the time, which I’m still taking classes. I think that’s another thing that most people don’t realize is so similar about us. I mean, we both really want to get our degree and we’re very passionate about getting that second portion of our life once our tennis career is over, kind of having that set. But there’s definitely a lot of opportunity in these challengers coming up after the US Open. It’ll be nice getting to kind of prepare this week. I still have doubles, but getting to still be in this image, in this picture, in the training room with all these guys will be really nice for me. Getting another few days here with Brad, it’ll be really good preparation leading up to all the challengers this fall.
QUESTION:
Last question, how have you felt since you made the announcement, you’re protest player now, how do you feel just walking around, I mean, bigger shoulders up, I mean you’re pro tennis player. Is there anything that you feel differently than when you were?
ETHAN QUINN I mean, definitely it’s a little bit lonelier, I feel like. I mean, that’s probably the thing that you don’t really see the most. I mean, you’re traveling a lot. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a lot of friends at these tournaments to spend time with. I mean a lot of them are on college campuses and since I was in college I have plenty of friends from other teams. So it’s been nice getting to see some of them and rekindle friendships. But then also I’ve been fortunate enough to have, I mean some of the coaches travel with me for USTA. Getting to kind of create friendships with them has been really, really nice. But I mean it’s definitely a different thing. I mean, being a professional tennis player is a lot different than just being an amateur college tennis player. I felt like when I was in college I still walked pretty tall, but now it’s a little bit different. Being on the Challenger tour, I’m kind of new to it. So I definitely could improve in that aspect, making sure I feel like I’m the guy that’s probably somewhere I can improve.
