He can’t stand losing. And he’s a very fiery competitor, so he battles himself. Sometimes battles his opponent. He battles everything out there, because he is a bit emotional. But he loves it.

Joe Gilbert

This is all brand new, but I feel like, because I’ve been with him so long, knowing what he needs to be good, to be ready for the match, is pretty easy. ... In his world, (under-18 national) finals when he was 17 was huge. This is a much bigger feeling, but it’s similar: ‘Hey, this is new. I have emotions, feelings.’ All that kind of stuff.

If you read (his) resume before you go play him you’re going to lose, of course you’re going to.

He’s not playing with power. He’s not playing with serve-plus-one. He’s not creating a huge weapon. A lot of what we talk about is patterns; where we think we have the advantage, i look at the other guy and I go, ‘This is where I think the holes are. This is the best way to get to those holes.’ His job is to go execute it.

It’s best to do it that way so he doesn’t over-analyze it, it’s the last thing he hears and it’s fresh in his head.