Wake Forest Athletics
Q & A with Todd Paul
4/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 23, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The 25th-ranked Wake Forest men's tennis team has just finished the first leg of the post-season with a trip to the ACC semifinals, and is now awaiting the NCAA Tournament draws. At this time last season, the squad was gearing up for what turned out to be a historic run to the NCAA Sweet 16, with then-senior Todd Paul leading the squad at the top of the lineup while holding the No. 1 singles rank in the nation.
Paul is now trying his hand in professional tennis, where he recently jumped from #887 to #776 in the ATP standings after three successful weeks in Canada. WakeForestSports.com caught up with the former Deacon standout to see how his first year of post-graduation play was going.
WakeForestSports (WF): What have you been up to since graduation?
Todd Paul (TP): At first, I was just at home training, going to the gym. But that got pretty boring after a while, especially right after school. I didn't have to worry about homework or anything so I had to figure out what I was going to do. Since January, I've been on the road a lot. I've already played eight tournaments this year and recently I was on the road for five weeks in a row.
WF: What opponent have you played this year that's really stood out?
TP: In Canada, I lost 6-1, 6-2. I wasn't necessarily playing bad but Florin Mergea was playing incredibly. He's only ranked in the 400/500s but the way he was playing that day was really high quality. Normally in college, no one hit the ball through me, I can usually match someone's power but this guy was crushing every ball. But then, two matches later, he lost. I don't know if I just caught him on the wrong day or what.
WF: Did you come across any unexpected differences between college and pro tennis?
TP: I was always really loud in college, but on the tour, no one screams after every point. The energy level is much calmer. I was used to being really loud and pumping myself up but if you do that on the tour, people look at you like you're crazy. It's also hard to do that on the tour because your matches are so close together. You get too tired if you play that way every time.
WF: What about your game are you currently trying to improve?
TP: My serve and my backhand. My transition game, too. My forehand was probably my greatest strength in school so tightening up the rest of my game has been important.
WF: So what is the life of a professional tennis player like?
TP: It's a little weird telling people that playing professional tennis is my job, especially when I'm not on TV. It's not as glamorous as it seems. You're not playing in the greatest places. Traveling is outrageous. The guys who are in the top 100 are playing in great cities with big crowds, whereas I'm playing in Brownsville, Texas. It's pretty much like Mexico since it's on the border. You see border patrol cars every day.
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TP: Life is a lot easier on a college team. You don't have to worry about traveling, setting up travel, stringing rackets. I also love the crowds, home or away. You're either playing for your home crowd or your playing against their crowd. On the tour, there might be ten people watching your match and most of them are other players.
WF: Off the top of your head, do you have a memorable Jeff Zinn story?
TP: Last year, we were playing NC State in doubles. It was 6-6 deuce and I was serving. He's asking me, "Can you hit an ace?" And I said "Yeah I can do it." He said, "Ok hit an ace out wide." I tried but the guy hit a return winner. We ended up winning the match though.
WF: What would you say is one of your more memorable moments with the Deacs?
TP: Watching Andrew Hamar pull out a match against Clemson in the NCAA tournament. I think the one that was good for me was when I played at No. 1 at Furman. Their crowd was going nuts. The ref kept warning their crowd because of the stuff that they were saying. We ended up winning but it could easily have swung the other way.
WF: Do you have any advice for the team heading into the NCAA Tourney?
TP: Play hard because you win or go home. I talk to the guys a lot so they know how I feel. It's a scary feeling. For me last year, I lost in the second round match so I lost control over how that match would end. We were fortunate enough to play another match. It was a much better way to finish my career than with a loss.
Fans can keep up with Todd Paul, including recent results and blog entries, on his website: ToddPaulTennis.com.
Players Mentioned
