Dutch prospect Jesper de Jong spoke to VAVEL about his Challenger success, Davis Cup dreams and the dangers of being too ambitious too soon.
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On Challenger success
De Jong, 23 won his first Challenger tournament in Kazakhstan back in 2021, a shock result for the young Dutchman.
"That week was a little bit unexpected, let's put it that way.
"It wasn't my best period, I wasn't playing well at all, and somehow I managed to win the tournament.
"I still have no idea how I did it," said the 23-year-old.
The Dutchman admits that the win may well have come to soon in his young career.
"My level was not there yet to be on the Challenger tour for 35 weeks [a year], and I expected myself to do that because I won one.
"That's really dangerous, it was dangerous for me, and in 2022 my goals were off, I didn't reach them at all," said de Jong.
The 23-year-old also dealt with physical problems in 2022, but recovered to have his best year to date in 2023, picking up his second Challenger title in Poland last month.
"In Poland I played well, it came together, I didn't lose a set there.
"Yeah, it wasn't the strongest challenger, I'm aware of that but it's still 100 points and I will take that.
"I think that Poland is now my biggest title, I'm stable now, I know that I'm playing well," said de Jong.
The result in Poland, combined with another strong effort in Istanbul earlier this month, pushed De Jong up to a career high of 135th in the world.
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On his Davis Cup ambitions
The Netherlands recently advanced to the last eight of this year's Davis Cup, a competition that de Jong would love to be a part of.
"It's something I dream of, representing the Dutch team is something really special, and I really look forward to it," said De Jong.
However, with such a strong group of players, competition for a place on the team is tough.
"[Tallon] Griekspoor and [Botic] van de Zandschulp are much higher ranked than the rest so it's obvious that they are number one and two, but it's a good goal to fight them for that spot," said the 23-year-old.
De Jong has spent a lot of time around the two top Dutch players and is looking to follow in their footsteps.
"I look up to them, it's good to have them around me.
"In the Covid period in 2020, we were practising together every day.
"Obviously now we're not playing the same tournaments, so we don't see each other much.
"But if we are in Holland together, we practice together, we have a good relationship," said de Jong.
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On scheduling difficulties
One of the lesser-known challenges tennis players face is the difficult task of balancing their schedules.
Picking and choosing which tournaments to compete in can play a huge role in how successful a player's season turns out to be, something de Jong is conscious of.
"I've been talking to my coach about next year because the ATP schedule is out already, we're discussing about when to go to clay and when to go to hard courts.
"I would rather go to the hard court side or to the clay tournaments where it's a little bit warmer and faster, like in South America," said de Jong.
The pressure of defending points from the year before can also impact which tournaments players choose to play.
"You know what you did last year, if you have to defend 75 or 100 points in a week, you're a little bit cautious of what you're playing because you're going to drop [your ranking] significantly.
"It's always a mental battle with yourself, there's so much pressure.
"That's the really tough thing about tennis, but if you have a good plan around your schedule and if you have the right mindset, it's doable," said the world number 138.
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On his biggest defeat
On the rise to the top, tennis players are bound to have their fair share of defeats, but one sticks out for the Dutchman.
"I got my ass kicked one time at the US Open [Juniors].
"I lost in 40 minutes against Yibing Wu, and I remember coming off the court saying to my coach, 'what was this?'," said de Jong.
The Dutchman was glad to see that Wu eventually settled on the ATP Tour.
"He went off the radar for some years, and now he's back which is good to see.
"It would be tough if that level was not even going to be good enough for top 100," said the young prospect.
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On his season so far
De Jong has had the best year of his career so far in 2023, surpassing all expectations that he and his team had at the start of the season.
"We adjusted our goals twice, so that's a good thing obviously.
"I started this year 330th in the world in the live rankings and now I'm 135th today which is obviously a very good step.
"We sat around the table in March, and then we said that my goal was to be 175th in the world by the end of the year.
"Then everything went well, and I said I wanted to be seeded in Australian Open qualifying which would be around 140th," said de Jong.
Being seeded in Grand Slam qualifying would help the chances of the Dutchman's dream matchup becoming a reality.
"When I'm playing the Grand Slams now, I always dream to qualify.
"On Thursday you have the draw, I always hope to see [Novak] Djokovic with a qualifier, then I could play Djokovic.
"I really hope that it will be possible one day, but I have to be fast I think," said the 23-year-old.
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On his goals for the future
De Jong changed his end of season targets one last time after his victory in Poland.
"After I won, we said let's give it a shot to be in the main draw for the Australian Open, which is like 105/6/7th.
"That would be a dream come true.
"I wouldn't have to go through three rounds of qualies [qualifiers] because I'd already be in so that would be amazing," joked the Dutch prospect.
Whilst qualifying for a Grand Slam is the immediate goal for the 23-year-old, winning one would be the ultimate achievement.
"The pressure is different, everybody is fighting, everybody is just trying to make their dream come true.
"I want to be there as soon as possible," said de Jong.
It was tough however for the Dutchman to decide which Grand Slam he wants to win the most.
"Wimbledon... no, French Open," said the world number 138.