Quinn Gleason is the WTA's #107 ranked doubles player. She reached the top 100 for the first time in 2023. Quinn played college tennis at Notre Dame. I chatted with Quinn during the Australian Open while she was wrapping up some off-season training.
In this conversation, we discuss the balance of managing a WTA and ITF schedule since Quinn qualifies for some but not all WTA events. We also discuss Quinn's off-season preparations and the impact of the ever-changing ITF and WTA landscape on players like her.
Quinn also shares:
Finally, we discuss Quinn's favorite tournament, books, and tackle the challenges and potential of doubles, advocating for increased visibility and popularity of the sport.
See the shownotes for this episode here: https://www.thetennistribe.com/quinn-gleason-interview/
**Join the #1 Doubles Strategy Newsletter for Club Tennis Players**
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***
Download your free doubles guide to learn how to force errors and get more easy volleys at TheTennisTribe.com/doubles-guide/.
***
Quinn Gleason is the WTA's #107 ranked doubles player. She reached the top 100 for the first time in 2023. Quinn played college tennis at Notre Dame. I chatted with Quinn during the Australian Open while she was wrapping up some off-season training.
In this conversation, we discuss the balance of managing a WTA and ITF schedule since Quinn qualifies for some but not all WTA events. We also discuss Quinn's off-season preparations and the impact of the ever-changing ITF and WTA landscape on players like her.
Quinn also shares:
Finally, we discuss Quinn's favorite tournament, books, and tackle the challenges and potential of doubles, advocating for increased visibility and popularity of the sport.
See the shownotes for this episode here: https://www.thetennistribe.com/quinn-gleason-interview/
**Join the #1 Doubles Strategy Newsletter for Club Tennis Players**
**Doubles Strategy Courses** These video courses will help you play smarter doubles and make winning easier.
**Doubles Ebooks** These guides offer proven advice to improve your doubles strategy.
***
Download your free doubles guide to learn how to force errors and get more easy volleys at TheTennisTribe.com/doubles-guide/.
***
You're about to hear my conversation with WTA number 107 doubles player, quinn Gleason. Before I get to what we discussed in this episode, a couple of quick announcements. Number one in this episode I was a little bit sick. I had kind of a bit of a head cold most of the week, so forgive me for my kind of sickly nasally voice that I have in this episode Because of that most of this week. I'm recording this intro.
Speaker 1:On Friday, january 26th, I am going to delay the new net play strategy course launch by one week. I really wanted to get it to y'all the day this episode releases but unfortunately, because I was sick all week, I just didn't have time or energy or the voice to record enough video to finish up the course. So I'd rather delay it a week and do it right than try to rush things. So we're going to be launching that on February 7th, so keep an eye out for that. And I'm going to be doing a Ask Me Anything episode that week as well. So if you have specific questions about net play strategy that you want me to add, excuse me. You want me to answer next week on that episode, then email me will at the tennis tribecom or you can reach out through Instagram, facebook, twitter, any of that and you can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram, and I'll see you guys next week. Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye.
Speaker 1:So we reached the top 100 for the first time last year, so talks about in this episode, including some of the recent changes between the ITF and WTA. I also asked her what she thinks that she needs to do to get into the top 50. So she broke top 100 last year. What improvement does she need to make to get inside the top 50, which would be kind of a next logical step? We also talk a little bit about the off season, how she prepares going into a new season, how she improves specific things.
Speaker 1:The way she answers this is really insightful and I talk a little bit about it in the episode. It's something that I want you to take away from this episode and really focus on. We talk about return sides. We talk about her ideal doubles, partners, game style, pre-match routines and then, of course, her favorite tournament tennis book non-tennis book and then how to make doubles more popular. This isn't a super long episode, but it is a really insightful one with some really great content from a player that maybe you have not heard of on the WTA tour, but I expect good things from Quinn over the next year or two as she continues to climb the ranks. So, without further delay, enjoy this conversation with Quinn Gleason. Hey, everyone, welcome to this show. Today we have Quinn Gleason on Quinn welcome.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much for having me Really pumped.
Speaker 1:Thanks for coming on. So you actually reached out to me through the Instagram channel for a t-shirt and then I said you should come on the podcast. I wanted to start asking how did you find the Instagram channel and find our content?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think I came across one of the reels just scrolling and I love doubles content. I love to watch and just hear different strategies. So I immediately saw those and was drawn in and then followed the page and then found some more interesting videos and listened to your podcast a couple of times. I love the shirts. Honestly, I think it's a good cause. I think more people should watch doubles. I'm definitely for it, so big fan.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it is yeah and it's fun to yeah. It was fun creating those shirts with a lot of the WTA players who I'm sure you know well and have played against. So I was doing some kind of prep for this podcast earlier and I Google Quinn Gleason highlights.
Speaker 2:What do you think the first thing that came up was I'm just a guess, maybe my underhand surf that I did last year. I feel like that went a little bit viral on Instagram, and that's.
Speaker 1:No no. I haven't found this. Hold on Quinn Gleason. So describe the underhand surf.
Speaker 2:So I was playing a UTR event last year, Like it was just to get match play. I'm not a singles player, I wasn't even playing singles, so I was just kind of out there to play and like get some point play before my first tournament last January and it was up 6-1-4-1. And I mean I have this kick serve that I kind of go to a lot and I see this girl standing back and I'm like you know what, now would be a really good time to break the serve out, because I've been playing a lot of pickleball also and that's like just super tempting and kind of gave in to the intrusive thoughts hidden underhand serve. She kind of got mad, understandably. Yeah, it was like it kind of been like executed and there just happened to be a couple of people.
Speaker 2:It was an ace. Yeah, oh my gosh, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:I don't know. I have the opinion that, like the underhand serve should be totally okay. Like, if they want to change the rules, that's fine, but I don't know, I think it's okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I see tennis as a game like let's have fun, and I mean there's nothing harmful about it. I think it's just kind of honestly using like smart tactics if the person's standing far back and not ready. A lot of girls don't like to come to the net too, so yeah, yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 1:So that was not what I found. Actually, the top video was the US Open Highlights from last year against. Coco and GS.
Speaker 1:So, that was obviously a big match against the number one seeds, two players who are all sit top five in singles. They'll lost that match on grandstand and I think it was on ESPN or ESPN2 or something. Talk about that match. What was that like for you? Was that the biggest stadium you've played on, and describe how your prep was for it, or if you did anything differently in terms of preparation or game plan.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I mean I was super honored to get the wild card. It was in no way like expected, so kind of a surprise there and playing with a partner I wasn't familiar with, we didn't really have a good chance to get set play we really get comfortable with each other.
Speaker 2:I know, like I was kind of shooting signals out and I don't think she knew to like look before she was returning. So I think there was like a little bit of confusion going on. But it was an honor to play on that court and with so many people watching. I mean it was my first US Open super cool experience to play in front of that many people and I mean you can't really ask for more like to play like such a great team on such a cool stadium.
Speaker 2:I wish I played better. It wasn't like, obviously not my best, but can definitely use that going forward as an experience and definitely I'll never forget it, you know.
Speaker 1:I think, if I were to.
Speaker 2:I learned a lot from the match. Honestly, because it was, it was definitely a jump in level that I saw playing the 250s from the summer. I would say the pace was much quicker.
Speaker 1:The like the the Serbs were coming faster and the ground strikes are coming faster all that stuff.
Speaker 2:Definitely I felt super rushed. Also, I was playing do side and I usually play ad side. I kind of volunteered to play the doosan. I'm like that's definitely not my side. But I try to get work, but I definitely didn't go as well as I'd planned. But, you know it happens. I learned a lot from it and definitely a valuable experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I was talking with with a coach at the US Open last year and we were talking about this singles player that he was coaching or he was like helping their team or something, and the guy came up against Joe Kovic, I think or maybe we were talking about Ben Shelton, I don't remember.
Speaker 1:Regardless, like Ben Shelton, I think, was to Joe Kovic in the quarters or something last year and we were talking about how it was like a huge stage for him and it was a big opportunity to beat Joe Kovic and stuff like that. And one of the things that we kind of or one of the ways we articulated what happened was, like you have to get through that loss against Joe Kovic to eventually maybe beat him later down the road, and it sounds like maybe this first US Open match was that for you, like you have to lose a few of those before you can actually start winning them. So it's not even like a bad loss, it's just maybe something that is just part of the process, like to get to where you want to be. Is that?
Speaker 1:how you would look at it a little bit, or do you feel like that doesn't apply here?
Speaker 2:Definitely. I think just being in New York it's like overwhelming emotions especially being a kid for me.
Speaker 2:Like it was my dream to play there and I don't think I really realized that until I was on the court, like, and I had my family there, a lot of friends, that I'm just like, wow, this is so cool, I really hope I can play. Well, obviously no expectations. You're a wildcard, playing like a very high seed and to really experience players that play together. But at the same time, I had so much like expectation on myself to play well, because I knew a lot of people were watching, even if it wasn't to like, let's say, win the match pressure. It was like I want to show how hard I've worked, you know, for like 20 plus years and yeah, so I mean just self-imposed expectations.
Speaker 1:But yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:Definitely can use it in the future as a learning experience and definitely be back there and hope to get back on that stage. I mean it was super cool to play in that stadium. Definitely didn't expect that for a first round women's doubles match. You know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. Well, it was a tough draw, but that's how you get on that stadium, you know. For sure. Ok, so we've got this, so this is going to be released after the Australian Open is done. But I just wanted to ask if you so we're down to the final four at the time we're recording this Do you have any predictions for the semifinals, is it? Or do you even watch these matches while you're not playing? Are you like as much of a fan as you are a player?
Speaker 2:Actually I'm a huge fan and the older I get, the more I'm like wow, I actually really like watching tennis. As a kid I would watch like my favorite. I'd watch Rafa's matches, but I wouldn't watch as much Doubles or any of that. And now I find myself just like putting on a random doubles match might not even know anybody that's playing and like really just enjoying watching it.
Speaker 1:No, so we've got, let's see. So let me pull up the. So I get this right. So Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniak, about play, shay and Mertens, ok, and then Kitchenaug, osta, pinko and Dabrowski and Rautliff. Ok, the other semifinal. So what do you make of those matchups? Any predictions, knowing that you're kind of on the spot here, because when this is released, people are going to know if you're right or wrong.
Speaker 2:Okay, Well, I really like the team of DeBraski and Reliff. I think they're fun to watch. They have a cool dynamic and even the Australian Open put out a video of them in the locker room before a match and Aaron's dancing and Gabby's doing a drill. It's just funny. The difference in style and everything. Yeah, I think they probably have a ton of confidence coming off the US Open, when I think I like their brand of doubles too, like the net aggression. Sorry, did you say Sinyakova is still in it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Sinyakova is playing with Storm Hunter Storm.
Speaker 2:Hunter okay.
Speaker 1:So they beat Seagman and Kretschakova last night like 7-5 in the third or 6-4 in the third or something.
Speaker 2:Okay, so that's obviously a contender as well. I got a little bit behind. I watched a really good dubs match between Luisa Stefani and Scherz against Crouchek and and Shibahara and yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I watched that one too.
Speaker 2:That was like such high quality dubs I really enjoyed that. I think all of that was I wish. I could watch that match. I think they all really put on a show. It was super impressive level.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so with Demi Scherz and Luisa Stefani, are going to be a really fun team to watch this year because they both just get to the net all the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's so much fun.
Speaker 1:And they don't have the biggest serves, so they're going to have a lot of really fun doubles points up at the net. So it's.
Speaker 1:Who did they lose to? They lost to Shea and Mertens. I believe it was last night. So Okay, at this point I'm not going to pick against Shea. She's won two of the last three majors Okay, that's good. And at the US Open she lost in the semis to DeBrowl Skinrautliff, who won the US Open. So I don't think I can pick against her. But all four teams are playing really well, so nothing would really surprise me.
Speaker 2:I think one of them is also super unpredictable too, which makes it even more fun. Yeah, that team could win on any given day, I think. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think there are four really really good teams here in the semis. Really good. So we're coming off the off-season, You're about to start your season up. It sounds like Talk about how you approach the off-season, just in general. Is there specific things you work on each off-season or do you sit down with your coach and create a game plan? Talk about what that looks like to continue to improve.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think one big thing I learned at the US Open match was I need to work on my return, so I worked on shortening my backswing on my forehand return, because I kind of got away with that during clay season and on slur courts but once you get to the faster courts you need a really short backswing, against bigger serves especially. So worked really hard on that, working hard on developing more of a bigger first serve. I think that's always like when I made the switch from playing singles and doubles to just doubles. I kind of got away with really high first serve percentage, getting good placement. But I think as soon as I start playing, the better teams I'm going to need to make that more of a weapon. So kind of working on those two things as a main focus and then obviously continuing to work on just strengthening the volleys and that kind of thing. But I think that that match, among a couple of others, just kind of put my coach and I on the right track for what I needed to work on most off season.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So for people listening, the takeaway from that is I asked you what you need to improve in the off season and your first two things you said were serves and returns. Right, like you didn't talk about volleys first, you didn't talk about ground strokes. It serves and returns. It's just you know whether you're playing singles or doubles, like those are the two most important shots. So what do you do to work on shortening your backswing, on your forehand return? I'm asking for the listeners and for myself, because it's something I need to work on too. Is there like a specific drill or tool you use, or anything?
Speaker 2:So I really I mean, I think shadowing really helps. You need to like really focus and get that racket in the right spot and if you just go out there and go from muscle memory, you're going to take a swing. So I think shadowing for each rep and really focusing on each rep makes a huge difference. But for me, seeing bigger serves really helped. So being forced to take the shorter back swing because if I have time I want to smack the ball, I want to take a full swing but if you have somebody who can serve to you from like the service line and really go hard right at it and just like rep it a bunch of times, I think that really helps.
Speaker 2:That's what's really helping me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's good. If you don't have somebody to practice with who does have that really big serve, just have the other person step forward and serve from the service line and that's going to kind of simulate that pace because the ball is going to get too faster because you've shortened the distance rather than increase the speed of the ball. Exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So let's go over your tennis story. How did you get started in tennis? I know you played college tennis at Notre Dame, which I want to talk about. You've got your Notre Dame hat on there. But, yeah, tell us your kind of tennis story and background.
Speaker 2:I played every sport growing up. My brother played tennis and he played other sports also, so I remember I was watching one of his lessons and I, like pretty much, ran right on the court.
Speaker 2:I was like I want to be involved in this, so I was like five or six when I started and played other sports and played baseball, football, a little bit of everything until I was like 12. And then, yeah, it came time to focus on tennis and I was pretty much all in at that point. But I had like a different route than others. I'm from like a small town, western New York, so went to public school, did the whole normal high school kid thing, played tennis, got to go to my dream school in Notre Dame, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then you. So you played college tennis at Notre Dame. You played all four years correct.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wasn't really even thinking of going pro until my senior year spring. I was like, wait a second, I'm really not ready to give this up. So I honestly, leaving early was never really an option, or never really even in my mind. I loved being on a team. I loved everything about college tennis. I had an absolute blast. I think those are probably like my best tennis memories was being on that team, you know.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm. So what's your take on? Like the? It sounds like you didn't have an opportunity to go pro early, but what's your take on the college tennis route versus the pro route?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I'm definitely biased. I loved college and I went all the way.
Speaker 2:I think every situation is different, like I do have plans from abroad who will go to college for a year and that's perfect for them. But I do think like in my situation there was no brainer to go to college and a lot of like unless you are top 100 level, I don't see a reason not to go to college and just get that incredibly like valuable experience. I mean not only education, but like you grow up so much and just learn so much in so many arenas of life not just tennis and college and I think that's really kind of served me well. Definitely grateful for all those experiences and yeah.
Speaker 1:So your ranking has kind of slowly progressed over the last five, six, seven years. For people unfamiliar sounds like my dogs are barking back there. So for people unfamiliar with the tour, right now you're at 107, I believe is your doubles ranking, and last year you hovered a lot between some ITF tournaments and some WTA 250s. I got the wild card in the US Open. What is it like, kind of hovering between the two. How do you manage that schedule on kind of a week to week basis?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's honestly super tough and it's another obstacle in finding that like perfect partner that you can plan every week with.
Speaker 2:And it's really, if I think the best way to do it is to play the biggest tournaments you can possibly get into, but at the same time you want a lot of match play so that you can get matched up and have confidence. So, like earlier last year I think it was March, april, may I was playing some ITFs and it wasn't going great. Wow had some good partners, had some tough draws. It was like I felt like my level was there but my results weren't great, so I wasn't getting points, even though I felt like I was playing well. So I had planned to play some 60Ks in the US to start the summer. And then my coach reached out to me and he's like Quinn, what are you doing? Like you're gonna get into these 250s in Europe? It's that's a no-brainer. So I was like really debating between those two, like I can play, go play three 250s, or I could play with the same partner. I could go play some 60Ks in the US and maybe get a ton of matches and try to go that route. And I ended up going the 250 route, which really paid off, honestly, to kind of set the tone and gave me a lot of confidence.
Speaker 2:I think winning matches at the 250 level is just not only is it easier points you get 60 points for a first round, which is pretty considerable but you also just get way more confidence that way, and at least for me. So playing the bigger tournaments for me is the biggest tournament I can get into. I wanna play, especially this year I don't know if you know this for 2024, they switched the points system. So playing ITFs is really not going to help unless you win them. So there's way, way less points.
Speaker 2:So like, for example, last year, like winning a 25K in doubles, you get 50 points, which is actually like quite a bit. So if you could go win a 25, that's not a wasted week, that's something. But now they don't even have a 25K level, they have a 35K level and if you win that four matches you have to win, you only get 35 points. So that's like one round basically at a 125. So it just like playing ITFs this year is not gonna make sense for me or anybody at my ranking, but I have noticed that, like getting into the WCA's is gonna be a lot tougher. So there was just a cut for the 250 in Cluj, romania, and my partner and I were combined like 210, which would get us in easily to most 250s last year, and this year the cut, I think, was like around 180. So we didn't get in, which is it was closer to 300 last year. So I think everybody's kind of noticing that the ITFs are gonna be a little bit obsolete quite twice.
Speaker 1:So I think it's gonna be tough. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, it sounds like. Yeah, probably all the players are having kind of the same experience and trying to play the WCA events. So how do you go about choosing a partner from week to week? Do you know how many partners you played with last year?
Speaker 2:I think I started the year with quite a few and then I kind of played a lot with one girl, maybe close to 10 partners last year, a couple of repeats in there. But for me again it has a lot to do with the ranking and matching rankings and matching tournament schedule. But I also really like to play with somebody who's consistent or strong from the baseline because I like to be that net player up front and falls away.
Speaker 2:Ideally, my ideal partner would have a good serve that would set me up and would play the do side and set me up with a good return. So I want ideally somebody who's going to take the do point return and I'll be there at net ready to clean up. But I mean, that's obviously not always easy to find.
Speaker 1:Yeah for sure, and for people listening, what does the process look like for finding the partner? So let's say, like next month there's a 250, you're like, okay, I want to play in it. I don't have a partner yet. Are you like in a group text chat with, like a bunch of other players that are ranked similar? Or do you like look at the singles entry list and like try to reach out to whoever's on that, or what does it look like?
Speaker 2:Honestly, it can be different. I mean, obviously, week to week last year. I'm looking at players and like just seeing how they're playing, kind of like considering how their game style might mesh with mine well, so I have like a short list on my phone of like people that I would really like to get on port with and see how it goes and I try to see how maybe their results are this year, how they're doing so far, and try to link up with them as much as possible. But again, it is tough with the different schedules. You got girls focusing on singles, you got girls who want to stay in Europe. So it's always kind of a puzzle putting it all together, I think, until you like top 50 and then you can find a consistent partner and really until then.
Speaker 2:It's a little bit. You got to go with the flow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and is that? Is that flow all done through just like text message or your Instagram DMing, or just how do you get in touch with them?
Speaker 2:Yes, the WCA has, like a thing, a page on the website for the players. That's called like finding, like find a player. Players are looking for a doubles partner for tournaments. Honestly that's underutilized. I think there's not a whole lot of people actually using that, especially singles players. I think there's like very few singles players on there, even if they want to play doubles. Maybe they don't know about it, so yeah, I think, there's a lot of like Instagram DM. There's a lot of just passing numbers between friends, you know it's a pretty small community, yeah.
Speaker 1:Sounds like a product that somebody could create.
Speaker 2:I agree, like a.
Speaker 1:Tinder for something. Yeah, Tinder for WCA doubles.
Speaker 2:Somebody work on that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay. So I want to talk strategy a little bit and kind of game styles, okay. So I think the next step would be maybe top 50, top 75, I don't know, something like that. What do you think needs to happen for you to get into that top 50? Let's say, between now and next year? Yeah, I think definitely if I could make my first serve into more of a weapon.
Speaker 2:I think that would really help. And again, being just super solid with my returns. And I mean there is a lot of shot selections there. But I think that's a good thing to do. I think there's a lot of shot selection that goes into it. I play a bit of a variety game. I kind of like to mix in slices and lobs and all that kind of stuff, so I like picking the right shot has always been a struggle for me because it seems like there's so many options.
Speaker 2:So focusing on shot selection, going for my serve and being super solid with return. Those are kind of the focus and I think, yeah, if I could get those three worked on would help me a lot.
Speaker 1:You mentioned the lob. I found a um a match on YouTube from Vera beach last year. It was a 60 K and I watched a handful of points, um or a handful of games from it and you were playing the ad court. So you mentioned earlier that you like returning from the ad court and you use the lob return a lot down the line. Can you talk about how do you decide to use that tactic, like a specific serve where you just like to lob it down the line, or do you decide before the point, like I'm taking this one? You know lob down the line and coming in behind it?
Speaker 2:That's honestly I think I'm biased again but one of the most underrated shots in women's doubles like the lob return. I think that could be used way more, and not only is like a huge bailout. If somebody has a huge cannon, serve like it gets me out of trouble immediately. Uh, girls don't like hitting overheads a lot of times, but I think it's like a safe shot.
Speaker 2:I know I can make that shot like nine out of 10 times. I feel really confident. Backhand, forehand, it doesn't really Um, I can get into the mode of hitting it too much, um, just because I'm so comfortable with it, which is what kind of what happened last year.
Speaker 2:I just overused it and then the element of surprise is gone but, there are some times where I'll plan it before the point to hit a chip lob, especially if the, if the, if the, if the, if the, if the. To hit a chip lob, especially if the girl, the nets struggling with overheads, or if I get it over their head and it seems like the servers like very pressured by me coming in off the lob, I'll use it like intentionally then. But I'll also use it if I'm just on straight defense and I'm like, okay, I have to hit it. So it's kind of out of necessity, but also it can be planned, yeah.
Speaker 1:Sure, yeah, it's more like a an offensive versus defensive lob, like if you maybe on a second serve, you'll use it like in an offensive situation and then if they hit a big first serve and you're on the stretch, it's good to use that defensive lob, I would agree. So I think it's underutilized at the club level too. So most of the listeners are club level players and I think it's it's not only underutilized, but it's never practiced, like I've never gone to a like local club or you know, like a lot of the clubs, like the public tennis courts and seeing someone practicing their chip lob return Like it just doesn't happen. So if, if people can start to practice the shot, I think it can become more and more, more effective and more common. And yeah, I mean a lot of club players don't like to hit overheads either. So yeah for people listening.
Speaker 2:go practice your chip, lob return. Honestly, one of my favorite things to practice too the touch shots I love like, I am like that's no good, because I discuss a lot of their ideas.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think you getortunately really using the key хорошо to make sure that you are returning from the do side. You like to be at the net and pick off good returns off that serve plus one shot. Anything else about their game style? That would be like an ideal doubles partner.
Speaker 2:I really like doing formations. If you try doing I formation Australian, I love mixing those in If I'm at the net and my partner serving. I would almost want to do I every time. I have to have a partner that's open to doing those formations, understands them. I also really like being the net player in a down the line scenario.
Speaker 2:A lot of times I like to go I and then have my partner in the down the line rally and then I feel very confident being the net player to pick off that middle ball. If I have a partner that's comfortable in that down the line rally and super solid, I think that's ideal for me. I don't necessarily need a partner that's strong at the net. I'd like to have that role. I can take the middle when we're both up. But yeah, I also like a big thing for me coming from the college tennis background I really like playing doubles with a partner with good energy. I really like to get pumped and I think that just makes the match way more fun and just like having a good vibe on the court is huge for me.
Speaker 1:So do you get a lot of your energy from your partner? It sounds like. Is that something For me, for example? I'm not a super energetic person, so I'm similar. I like to play with someone who has good energy, but isn't overwhelming for me. How have you found out that about yourself? How have you discovered that about yourself? Because I think this is something that I don't talk a lot about on the podcast because it's so intangible and it's not like when they serve here. You do this. It's like a very gray area, I guess, but how have you found this out about yourself?
Speaker 2:Just playing with different partners. I mean, even this year I had partners who would get super pumped with me and I've had partners that would just drain me a bit and this year really solidified. I know what kind of partner I like to play with, what I feel most comfortable with on court, and I think, for better or for worse, I am pretty affected by how my doles partner is acting Like. If they're positive or negative, I try to keep things as positive as I can, but sometimes it's hard to be the only one. If you're the only one keeping the vibe up, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. The team chemistry aspect is super important. What advice would you give yourself when you graduated college?
Speaker 2:That's a really good question. Ok, I would say pick the term it's scheduled wisely. I think that's huge and pretty underrated. I would also say focus really hard on fitness. I think that's something I've more come into now, which I really didn't understand when I first went pro, but it's helped me a lot recently. There's like you feel like you're fit enough, but you don't really understand how fit you can be and how much of a difference that can make. I think, that's a big thing.
Speaker 1:And then Did that look like just more off court training and more like stretching and massage and all that stuff, or what did that look like? Change, look like for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just being like all around more professional with that, all of that stuff. I mean I never went to the training room in college. I never had any of that maintenance, I didn't ever need it, I was never injured. But now I find like you need to take care of all that stuff before you even get injured.
Speaker 2:You know, and not just injury prevention but just being as fit as you possibly can be. If you can be faster, you should go get faster If you want to see results on the tennis court. It all comes from a lot of off court work.
Speaker 1:Okay. And then did you have a third thing you were about to say. Or did I make you forget it?
Speaker 2:I think it's. I don't think going into like graduate in college I didn't realize how big of a transition it would be to totally being on my own taking care of all my logistics, flights, all that stuff. So, I think maybe somebody should come up with like a crash course of teaching like pros coming right out of college how to book hotels, how to book flights, because there are a lot of secrets and like not secrets, but things you learn along the way and like well, I could have saved a lot of money, a lot. You know what I?
Speaker 2:mean Learning those kinds of tricks to spend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, Remind me after we stop recording. I've got a friend who's actually already working on this.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:I'll get you in touch with him.
Speaker 2:Awesome yeah.
Speaker 1:So what about, let's say, like one, one to two years from now? What do you think, quinn, one to two years from now would say back to you sitting here today?
Speaker 2:Hopefully something along the lines of you'll get there, just keep trusting the process, it's all worth it. I've only played two of the slams so far and I want to play all four. I want to be top 50. There's just everybody has these goals, but just trusting the process, that kind of thing, we'll see where it comes in.
Speaker 1:Do you have any pre-match routines that you go through outside of a normal warm-up?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I always. I love listening to music before a match. I think it just puts me in a good mood and keeps the vibe high. I usually warm up with one ear pot in or whatever. Have a good playlist going. I never start playing until I play catch with the football. I think that's maybe my favorite part of the warm-up. I always play catch. I bring my football wherever I go.
Speaker 1:That's before you hit a tennis ball.
Speaker 2:Before.
Speaker 1:I hit a tennis ball.
Speaker 2:My warm-up before I hit a tennis ball. It's getting longer and longer the older I get. Now it's about an hour long, but I love doing high hand coordination things. Again, I have to throw the football before I play. That's one thing.
Speaker 1:What kind of music are you listening to during your warm-up?
Speaker 2:Little bit of everything. There's these sound cloud mashups, and they're an hour long.
Speaker 1:A lot of times.
Speaker 2:I'll just put those on and it's like 100 songs in one. It keeps it right. That's mostly what I listen to. Honestly, the warm-up is probably my least favorite part of the day. The warm-up is like I just need to get through this so I'm ready for the match. I try to make it as fun as possible. I'm usually out there just to make my partner feel good. I can hit two balls and I'm ready for the match. Honestly, that's how I feel. It's like let's get through this, I'm ready to compete.
Speaker 1:That makes sense. Then earlier you said you're trying to be more professional about the training and taking care of your body, which is important for the warm-up. That's great that you recognize that about yourself. Like, okay, I don't enjoy warm-up. How can I make this more fun so that I do it? Because I know it's important and I've got to find a way to enjoy it and get through it.
Speaker 2:Right, exactly, you're doing weeks in a row of tournaments and you're doing the standard warm-up every single day. Honestly, it can be easy.
Speaker 1:You've got to be a machine, yeah.
Speaker 2:Especially me. I mean the way I play. It's like I don't want to rally cross-court, so just warming that up can be a little bit painful sometimes, so I've got to get through it one way or another make it final. That's the biggest thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the one ear pod will help that For sure. All right, so a couple of rapid-fire questions and then I will let you go. So what is what's your favorite doubles position on the court? So server returner, server's partner. Returner's partner.
Speaker 2:Okay, I like to be at the net my partner's serving. I like to be in eye position. I love a good body serve when I'm in eye and then I just want to take anything and hear me, that's yeah, just go get it. Go get it.
Speaker 1:What is your favorite tournament?
Speaker 2:Probably.
Speaker 1:US.
Speaker 2:Open, being a kid from New York, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Favorite tennis book.
Speaker 2:I do like winning ugly by Brad Gilbert. I haven't read it. I read it a couple of times when I was a kid, but I feel like I can reread that. I haven't read a lot of tennis books, to be honest.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's a good one. That's actually a pretty popular answer. Yeah, he does a good job in that one of helping you understand that it's not all about hitting the ball really hard and looking good on the court and then really focusing on your opponent as well. Yeah, that's a really good one. What's your favorite non-tennis book?
Speaker 2:I like Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday. He has a lot of stoicism books that I think are really cool to implement on the tennis court as well. I think, they take a lot of non-tennis books but implement them on the tennis court. I also really like the Book Shattered by Tim Tebow. I think that's a really cool one. That got me through a couple injuries or hard times. Just puts everything in perspective.
Speaker 1:I haven't read that one. I've read the Holiday book, but I've not read Tebow's.
Speaker 2:Did you like the Holiday book?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yeah, it's been a while. I feel like that one's been out for like 10 years or more it has yeah. I read it probably like 10 years ago or so. There was a phase where I went through like I'm pretty stoic, anyways, but there was a phase I went through where I really enjoyed reading stoic philosophy type stuff. I still like it a lot. It's definitely a good book, but anyways, yeah, I remember enjoying it a lot. I actually saw him speak in Alston one time when I was living there.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's so cool.
Speaker 1:When he released one of his newer books, I believe.
Speaker 2:I've read all of his books pretty much. Yeah, I really like that one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's great. So last question how do we make doubles more popular?
Speaker 2:I think it just needs to be seen more. I think it just needs more publicity. If we put it on the TV, I think it'll sell itself. It's super entertaining. I think, to be honest, it can be a lot more athletic than the singles. Like the fast reflexes. I like the huge strategy component. It's not just going out there hitting the ball as hard as you can. I think, yeah, I love doubles and I really hope we can get the word out, because it is awesome and I think it's underappreciated.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're doing our best. Yeah, I agree with you. I think that obviously I don't know if you listened to that episode I had with Ben Rothenberg recently but it's like this chicken or the egg problem where it needs to be marketed better, but the reason they won't market it is because the stars don't play doubles like stars, right. So it's like, how is some of the players like Nicole Melakar Martinez or Gabby Dubrowski or Ellen Perez or whoever like? How are they supposed to become stars if they're never shown on TV and not put on a lot of the marketing material? So it's a tough problem to solve, but I'm hoping that we can get there one day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I believe it, I think. Yeah, I love doubles and I think it definitely could use a little bit more publicity. Got to watch more dubs.
Speaker 1:For sure, awesome. Well, any last request or comments for the audience before we hop off here.
Speaker 2:No, but thank you so much for having me. It was really fun talking to you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, thanks a lot. Glad you got to wear your shirt and. I will. Yeah, thanks so much and I'll talk to you soon and see you in Austin.
Speaker 2:Awesome Sounds good. That's it.