By Douglas Robson
LONDON – On the heels of arguably the biggest week of his pro career, Ethan Quinn didn’t celebrate. He sat through a four-hour flight delay, endured a long ride from Gatwick Airport and finally crawled into bed at 5 a.m. Sunday.
Less than 36 hours later, he was upsetting the No. 14 seed at Wimbledon.
Quinn reached the ATP 250 Mallorca final on Saturday, falling to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain. He accepted the situation, bit his tongue and didn’t complain despite less than ideal preparation for a challenging London encounter with Luciano Darderi of Italy.
“I guess that’s just part of making your first [250] final—the kind of things that you have to deal with on tour,” Quinn said of the frustrating journey and his decision to choose rest over practice before his first round.
The growing mental maturity over things he can’t control paid off. Quinn employed his big serve, damaging forehand—and increasingly, his reliable return game—to knock off Darderi, who is better known for his clay-court acumen, 7-6(7), 7-5, 6-2.
“I was super pleased with zero complaining about the travel and being tired,” said his main coach, Brian Garber. “And super pumped with the mental effort today, which I think was as good or better than the tennis part.”
Already at a career-high world No. 47, the 22-year-old Fresno, Calif., native and 2023 NCAA singles champion from the University of Georgia is poised to push his way deeper into the thinner air at the top of men’s tennis.
This grass-court surge is the continuation of a breakout season. Quinn points to his five-match title run at the Challenger 175 in Phoenix in March, followed immediately by back-to-back wins over Masters 1000 champions Hubert Hurkacz and Casper Ruud in Miami, as the primary catalyst for his self-belief.
His effort in Mallorca has Quinn building confidence and finding his groove as he continues to figure out his game style in just his second full year on tour.
According to Garber, learning to manage success can be even harder for a young player than managing failure. After putting too much pressure on himself during a frustrating clay-court swing—he went 6-8 on dirt and lost in the first round at Roland Garros—Quinn has learned the humility required to tackle each week as a brand new battle. He credits a crucial 12-day reset at home in Boca Raton, Fla., following Paris for his revitalized approach.
“Last year I had a really good clay-court season, or an unexpected clay-court season, and the tour is not so kind to guys when you expect to win,” Quinn said.
“If my routines were there for the clay, I probably would have had decent success,” Quinn admitted. “But I think with the grass, my routines have been really locked in, haven’t been wasting any extra energy, you know, with complaining about certain things. When you have a clear mind, you’re able to play good tennis.”
The mental gains are coinciding with improvements across Quinn’s game. While his 120-mph serve and hammer forehand have always been his calling cards, Garber and veteran coach Brad Stine have also sharpened his return game. Stine, Garber says, is one of the best grass-court coaches in the world.
“Ethan is moving phenomenally well on the grass, and I think it’s made a huge difference,” Garber noted. “His return stats are two times [better than] what they were on hard courts on grass, which is wild. He’s really understanding and listening to our coaching on the return part, and it’s made a huge difference when you serve that big.”
Now, carrying the momentum of his recent 250 final and navigating the rigors of the tour with a veteran’s poise, the American is feeling more fully realized on the court.
“In terms of confidence, pretty high,” an upbeat Quinn said after his win Monday. “I feel like I’m really comfortable on the surface, comfortable with my game, comfortable with my identity, so there’s a lot of things to really be able to step on the court and not second guess anything.”
Next up for Quinn on Wednesday in the second round is 151st-ranked qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan. They have never met.
The delayed flight and sleepless night are already forgotten. The habits that carried Quinn through them may prove far more lasting.