Mr BioFile Interviews by Scoop Malinowski
By Scoop Malinowski
Status: ATP no. 4 ranked player in the world. Winner of ten ATP singles titles.
DOB: October 28, 1997 In: Rancho Santa Fe, California
Ht: 6-5 Wt: 190
First Tennis Memory: Being on the court with my dad’s college guys. He coached at College in the Desert. And just at our house and hitting two-handed forehands and backhands. I had to be like two or three years old.
Tennis Inspirations: (Pete) Sampras, as far as role models go. (He was) a big role model for me. But inspiration…the reason why I play is I love to compete. Tennis is great because it’s one on one, it’s just you against someone else. It’s mental, physical. I just really like competing. And…winning [smiles].”
First Famous Player You Met Or Encountered: (Andre) Agassi I would say. (When?) US Open. Because my mom was playing the seniors and my dad helped out Andre when he was younger. They knew each other. And I got to meet him. (How old were you?) I was so young. Like four or five. (You actually remember meeting Andre?) Barely.
Greatest Sports Moment: Winning first ATP title in Eastbourne (2019).
Most Painful Moment: Hmmm…I lost a match in high school tennis. There was a match I lost in high school tennis. That was the low point. (Score?) In high school tennis we played one set. I lost the set 7-6. Came out a little too confident, went down a break. The guy was serving big. Got to a tiebreaker, I just couldn’t do it [smiles].
Favorite Sport Outside Tennis: To play? Or like my second best sport? (Both. Whatever.) I really like playing soccer.
Three Athletes You Like To Watch & Follow: (Cristiano) Ronaldo. (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic. I like soccer a lot. And then…who else do I really like… are we going outside of tennis? (Anybody.) I really like (Juan Martin) Del Potro, tennis-wise.
Strangest Match: My tennis matches have been pretty normal, to be honest. No strange things really happened.
Embarrassing Tennis Memory: I’m sure I have but I just try to forget those.
Funniest Players Encountered: On Tour? Well, I mean, no one knows it yet but the American guys coming up – Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul are pretty hilarious guys. And also I think Sam Querrey is pretty funny.
Last Book Read: I don’t even know. I haven’t read a book in a long time [smiles].
Favorite Tournament(s): US Open’s a great event. Home soil Grand Slam. That’s one of my favorites. Or Indian Wells.
Current Car: Black Tesla.
People Qualities Most Admired: Just like people that are funny, good sense of humor, very friendly. And yeah, very friendly people who go out of their way to talk is nice.
