By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday August 23, 2020
Cincinnati’s own JJ Wolf has been a player on the rise for some time now. The Ohio State Buckeye has made quite a splash on the challenger tour since turning pro. He has picked up four challenger titles and risen over 400 spots in the rankings in less than two years (currently 144), and he will have a chance to do a lot more over the next three weeks as he is set to make his first two ATP main draw appearances at the Western and Southern Open and the US Open.
Wolf qualified for the Western and Southern Open and will face Richard Gasquet in first-round action. He received a wild card to the US Open, and will make his first Grand Slam main draw appearance there.
We caught up to the 21-year-old on Friday after he completed his qualifying run to talk about his experience and get his thoughts on the challenges that lie in wait. He told us his phone was blowing up and that he’d gotten about 400 text from friends from home and his buddies at college.
You’re getting headlines for your mullet and some chatter about it on Twitter. What are your thoughts on that?
“It did when I was playing college, so I didn’t really think about if the pro media would be any different, but you know I don’t mind it. I was kind of hoping for a little bit of it.”
You’ve done well on the Challenger Tour, what do you expect when you start facing higher-ranked guys?
“I’ve practiced with some higher-ranked guys, Tennys Sandgren and guys like that, and I’ve talked to him a little bit. They tell me that the guys that are in the Top 100, Top 50, are very professional, don’t make the kind of mistakes some of the challenger level players make, so you have to really be on your game. I think I’m ready for it. I’ve been working my butt off. If you win a bunch of challengers it’s great but the big stage is where it has to happen, so, I’m aiming for that.
What was the quarantine like for you?
“Got in the gym really early during quarantine. I just had a couple of my buddies that I was in college with in Columbus, we were all stuck together, we were just honestly having a great time, just relaxing, remembering the good times, living through a couple more, and I was just lifting a lot of weights, then I toned it down. Started getting a little more court time.”
Did you make any changes to your game or in your approach?
I probably put on 15 points in quarantine and then took off maybe eight or nine towards the end, to get ready for five sets, but hopefully kept a little bit of the muscle. Just really working on my body hard and adding a couple of things to my game that were missing.
What did it mean for you to pick up a US Open wild card?
“It meant the world to me. I’ve been wanting to play the US Open since I was a little kid, I’ve watched it every year, saw all the greats win it, and I just wanted to be there fighting against them."
I know your dad is your hero, but what ATP players have you grown up watching and modelling your game after?
“I really grew up watching Rafa and Federer and their great battles. As I get older I just see the guys that are working hard and kind of admire them, but also I don’t want to put them too high up to where I’m always idolizing them, right now I’m trying to focus on my game and get back to just learning.”
The setup in New York is a little weird, but it seems like the tournament is going all they can to keep you guys entertained?
“I’m having a ton of fun. My coach and I are kind of just living on – they have a gun for the basketball hoop, to shoot the balls at you, you’ll catch me a couple of hours a day on that. The putting green. There’s a golf simulator at the hotel, I also spend a couple hours there, just getting for the scramble matches when I get back to Ohio.”
What do you hope to get out of these next few weeks at the Western and Southern Open and US Open?
“I always just kind of look at how I handle the pressure, how I handle the competition. And if I can get through every month and just keep going towards being the best I can be, I’m going to be fine. Results aren’t the biggest deal to me right now – I want to win very match I play, obviously that’s not going to happen. No one does that. But if I can get some good wins under my belt, grab some more confidence, I think I’m not so bad of a confidence player, so that’s always what I’m looking for.”