WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 23, 2020

J.J. Wolf

Press Conference

R. GASQUET/J.J. Wolf

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Tough loss, but I saw on Twitter that he has played 865 ATP matches, and this was your first one. Did you sense that that was one of the reasons that the match went his way?

J.J. WOLF: Yeah, he's definitely a very talented and experienced player. I think the match mostly went the wrong way when I was up 3-1, 30-Love and I didn't execute on that game. You know, him being a veteran, he knew how to take advantage of that. You know, I didn't.

Q. I know the atmosphere, had you been home in Cincinnati and it was the regular tournament, it would have been completely different. How did you get over that? How mentally did you adjust to such a strange vibe?

J.J. WOLF: You know, it wasn't a huge deal for me. I have played in some empty stadiums before, maybe like some high school matches, and, you know, I'm not too unused to it. Maybe some challenger matches also where there aren't too many fans.

Definitely missed having the home crowd. That's always one of my favorite things to play in that environment. It's awesome.

But I'm just happy, once again, that this tournament happened this year. It was a great experience for me. I'll be taking a lot out of this match and tightening my game up.

Q. Your record since last fall has been really good. Was there a point at which you really began to feel like you belonged on the tour, that you belonged in these kind of tournaments?

J.J. WOLF: I don't know if there is a specific moment. I think it's just kind of a gradual increase of confidence, and I think some of these matches are going to be big for me if I can execute on the big points.

These guys, they don't make mistakes when they're up 3-1, 30-Love too often. That's what I did today. I didn't really stay too well. He's such a talented player. He has all the spins, and his ball really runs off the court. He served well, and I didn't handle that well.

Q. Is this surprising to you that once you have left Ohio State that you've gone pretty steadily straight toward the top 100? Has that surprised you at all?

J.J. WOLF: No, that was the initial goal is to break that top 100, and I've got a lot of faith in my coaches at home. They told me that if I put in the work and do everything right that that's the trajectory I'll take. I have been trying to listen to them a lot and listen to my family.

I guess I'm not surprised, but I'm very happy with how it's been going lately.

Q. Who are you being coached by now? What kind of team are you working with?

J.J. WOLF: My main coach is David Cast (phonetic), and then I have Patrick Thompson and Balaj (phonetic) Novak.

Q. So Ohio State guys from back in the day? Are any of them with you here?

J.J. WOLF: Patrick is with me here. This will be our first tournament traveling together. He was the one watching on court today.

I think we work together really well, and I think it's going to be a long partnership, for sure.

Q. What are kind of your thoughts about playing the US Open, getting that wildcard, main draw of that?

J.J. WOLF: You know, it meant a lot to me to get that wildcard and get a chance to play the U.S. Grand Slam. That's always going to be my favorite Grand Slam. I love playing at home.

Yeah, been working my butt off trying to get ready for it. Played a couple practice five-setters back in Columbus, so I'm hoping that will have me ready.

Q. I know that you played some matches, you know, some of those exhibition matches in Columbus and that sort of thing. What else did you do to keep sharp?

J.J. WOLF: Did a lot of work in the gym with my trainer, Adrian Jordan, and really worked on my diet, just trying to take things to the next level. I have never really had, you know, six months to be on a fitness workout plan before with all the traveling we do with tennis.

We had a full gym and we went after it hard. Just tried to add some other things to my game. Had a lot of on-court time, pretty much stayed healthy most of the time, and that was big for me.

Q. Do you feel like you're as fit as you have ever been? How would you rate that? Or do you need time to actually play matches to decide that?

J.J. WOLF: I'm definitely the most fit that I have ever been. You know, matches, it's different with nerves and whatnot, but, you know, I've got faith in my legs. Whenever I have had cramps or whatever in the past, it's never been because I'm tired. It's always a little bit of mental things, so I have been working with that, too.

I got all the tests. I was low on magnesium, so I started getting that in order. Looked at the foods that I should be trying to eat. And I have been trying to stick to that pretty hard, trying to take myself to the next level.

Q. Do you have any goals? You mentioned I guess just improving and maybe getting into the top 100. Do you have any specific thing that you're working toward?

J.J. WOLF: You know, I think some people have, like, rankings that they want to get to. I just want to see where my game can go.

I want to become as good as I can be and look back and say I worked as hard as I could, did everything I could. And if that's 50, 10, 1, whatever it is, I'll be happy with it looking back if I worked my butt off in all the right ways.

Q. Tell me a little bit about what you consider the best thing that you got from your college experience.

J.J. WOLF: Well, it's hard to pick one. I think really the competitiveness helped me. I was very competitive in other sports, and I always fought on the tennis court, but it was different getting to college having something bigger than yourself to fight for. So I was kind of locked in there, and I'm trying to bring that to the tour, as well.

Q. Was there anything about leaving college that was difficult, or was that a difficult decision when you had to decide to go?

J.J. WOLF: It was a very difficult decision. I loved everything about Ohio State, would never make a different decision, looking back. Very happy with my time there. Made some really good friends.

You know, worked well with everyone there. And probably the hardest part was leaving all of my buddies at Ohio State, on and off the team. I have a really good friend group there.

But living in Columbus over quarantine, I got to see them a lot. So I feel like I got that would-have-been senior year back almost. So I'm pretty content with my decision, especially looking at what happened this year. I think my game was ready to leave college tennis, but it was definitely hard for me.

Q. Are you planning on staying in Columbus and doing all of your training there? Is that going to be where you're going back to?

J.J. WOLF: For the time being, yes. I'm living pretty close to Ohio State. I'm in Grandview, which is probably five, six minutes off campus.

All my coaches are in Columbus. But if we have a red clay tournament or something, I'm sure I will be headed down to Orlando to try to work on that.

Q. One of the sad developments of the COVID period is the kind of threat to college tennis. Iowa just lost its program. Is this something you've been aware of or concerned about? Just talk about the value of collegiate tennis.

J.J. WOLF: I heard about Iowa. That's definitely a tragedy, especially with a Big 10 school, and they improved so much in the past couple years.

I grew up with a couple players on that team. Jason Kerst I definitely played a couple of times in juniors. I just feel for the whole Hawkeye family on that.

It's definitely concerning. Yeah, I don't know what to say about that. I haven't really thought about it too much. It's just really sad to see that very solid program get cut.

Q. What's Columbus going to be like, you think, this fall without Buckeye football? So ingrained in the culture.

J.J. WOLF: Tried not to think about it too much. It's not going to be the same, that's for sure. But it seems they think that there are a lot bigger issues out there.

You know, I feel for all the student athletes. They have just absolutely worked their butt off during this period to be able to play and aren't getting allowed to.

I'm not an expert on the topic. I guess let the experts handle that. But I wish there could be Buckeye football.