"It was interesting trying to think about what to do after I got inside of 100; that was always my goal to get inside of 100. It took six years to do that for me. It was like what do I do now? Do I just move the marker to 50? Can I do that? Am I good enough? You just don't know."
This week brings Tennys Sandgren to the show to talk about his career, the fallout he has dealt with, and what's next for him as the ATP tour restarts in New York (interview starts at 3:38).
The world No. 55 spent the shutdown working on his drumming skills (he covered a few of his heavy metal favorites on Instagram), training in the gym, and getting valuable match play at World TeamTennis where his Orlando Storm squad made the playoffs.
Sandgren gets into talking about his early tennis start, his college experience and his humble beginnings on the ITF tour. After three semesters at the University of Tennessee, he went pro in 2011 and enjoyed respectable success until a big breakthrough in 2018. That year, he reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and soon after he'd crack the Top 50. Off the court, the Tennessee native faced backlash for his old tweets, and he discusses how that impacted his career and life.
Sandgren would go on to win his first ATP title at the start of 2019 in Auckland and he gives listeners a candid take on what celebrations can be like on tour. This year, he reached the quarterfinals Down Under once again, complete with a dramatic loss to Roger Federer after holding seven match points. The 29-year-old is returning to the tour at the Western & Southern Open and US Open this month after having not played an ATP match since February.
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