"I thought this was going to be easy, that I was going to crush them all"

Fernando Murciego | 8 Oct 2025 | 10.35

Ethan Quinn tells his learning story in 2025. Source: Getty

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You may have seen him before and not remembered his name, but Ethan Quinn is undoubtedly one of the great revelations of the 2025 season on the men's circuit. A guy who started the season outside the top 200 and today is hovering around the top 70 in the world.

At 21, Ethan Quinn's journey is the same as that of the 15% of the circuit who no longer hesitate when presented with the opportunity to go to college. It doesn't matter if you arrive a bit later to professionalism; what matters is to educate yourself and have the level. In the case of the American, it was quickly apparent that he had both, although his eagerness pushed him to want to go even faster. An excess of confidence that gave him headaches at the beginning until he understood that this adventure was not going to be easy. This is how the player explains it in a conversation with tennis.com.

"Honestly, this is more or less what I expected when I first turned professional. I had some delusional expectations, thoughts that I would come onto the circuit and crush it, that I would break into the top 75 in the world immediately. I thought everything would be very easy once I left college, but life quickly gave me a reality check," confesses the Fresno native, born in 2004.

"The 2024 season was already really tough for me; I thought I would explode the moment I set foot in the locker room, that I would soon make the turn I needed, but that didn't happen either. It was very difficult for me to process all that. In the end, I had no choice but to lower my head after two years of frustration and lack of progress," acknowledges Ethan, recalling his initial attempts to reach the top 100, a goal he would achieve this summer.

"My mentality has always been like this, although deep down, I was aware that none of this could be easy. Once we changed that perspective, everything else changed too. Now, we see each match as just a match, instead of treating it as a win or a loss. If I win, great, it will be a new opportunity to play another match," adds the American, clearly rejuvenated by the daily challenging circuit.

ETHAN QUINN during the 2025 season. Source: Getty

- If it's hard, it's worth it

Victories in tournaments like Dallas, Madrid, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, Washington, Canada, Cincinnati, or Tokyo have helped him make the leap he sought, to feel like one more within the elite, to take his place in that top 75 he aimed for. Who doesn't remember his first-round duel in Barcelona against Alcaraz? A tremendously improved young man who will have the challenge in 2026 to seek a new height in his horizon. At 21, he still has all the margin in the world, the important thing is to listen to how he has been learning through so many experiences in recent months, awakening from that fantasy and accepting that at these levels, no one gives anything away.

"I believe that having all these difficulties has turned out to be very positive for my development. If you simply appear on the scene and then have very little struggle, you risk not knowing what to do. Now I have much more space ahead of me to continue developing and make my game grow," points out the man mentored by Brad Stine, another key element to understand the rise of over a hundred positions they have achieved together this season.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, “Pensé que esto iba a ser fácil, que los iba a aplastar a todos”

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