Christopher O'Connell

Australia

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As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realised literally every ball you hit in practice is important.

Christopher O'Connell, 15 Mar 2024

Began playing tennis at age four
Realised at age 16 he was good enough to follow a professional tennis career
Favourite surface is Plexicushion
Tennis goals are to represent Australia in Davis Cup and reach the world’s top 100
Achieved latter goal by making top-100 debut in July 2022
Believes travelling is the best part of being a tennis player
Tennis hero is Roger Federer; feels his game most closely resembles the Swiss’
Ideal mixed doubles partner would be Sam Stosur because of her good volleys
Dream tennis scenario would be to defeat a top 10 player in a night match at Rod Laver Arena
Professional goals are to make a living playing tennis and to play Davis Cup for Australia
Won a tour-leading 72 matches in 2019, claiming two ATP Challenger and three ITF Futures titles after beginning the season without an ATP ranking
Won his first Grand Slam main draw match at the US Open in 2020
Advanced to third round at Australian Open 2022, scoring first top-20 win against Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman in the second round
Notched first ATP semifinal at San Diego in September 2022
In 2023, upset world No.28 Roberto Bautista Agut en route to the ATP Doha quarterfinals, where he pushed eventual champion Daniil Medvedev to 7-5 in the third set
In 2024, he won the Guangzhou ATP Challenger title

Describes himself as relaxed, chilled, lazy, neat and cool
Favourite city in the world is Sydney, because of its beaches
Favourite meal is penne carbonara
Best piece of advice he’s received: “to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift”
His perfect day would involve spending a morning at the beach followed a coffee and nice lunch, then an afternoon watching a live band with a few beers and mates
Spent six months working part-time as a tennis coach and cleaning boats on Sydney’s Pittwater Harbour while sidelined with a knee injury in 2018.