#NextGenATP star Jared Donaldson recalls the time a guy stopped his car to tell him “Rock on, bro!” and shares the important question he had for his idol, Barry Bonds, whom he met on a trip to Atlantis. 

First moment I realised I loved tennis
I was six years old playing a match at my club that I grew up at. This kid was 12 or 13, way older than me, and it was an eight-game pro set. I was down 7-0 to him and I came back to beat him 9-7. My dad felt that not too many kids at that young age have that ability to stay with it and fight. I feel like maybe that was the first moment where he and I realised that I really had determination, and I feel like that’s what you need in tennis and I feel like I have that. 

First coach and the most important lesson he taught me
My first coach was Mario Llano. The most important less he taught me was to always play aggressive and hit your groundstrokes. He said don’t focus so much on the result. Obviously you want to win and fight, but don’t get caught up in the result; make sure you’re playing well. 

First pinch-me moment on the ATP World Tour?
Honestly, when I got my first [Emirates ATP Rankings] point, that was big. I feel like one of the bigger moments in my career was last year in Toronto when I beat [Fabio] Fognini in the second round. That was a really good win after coming through qualies. And also it was hot, he was playing well, he had won a tournament the week before and won a good first-round match, and I felt that it was really close. Sometimes when you’re just coming up you lose those tight matches and I was able to win it so that was really important, where I kinda thought I belong here, I can play with these guys. 

First time I was recognised
The funniest moment I was recognised outside of tennis, I was in Rhode Island on vacation two to three years ago, and there’s this place called the Coffee Exchange in Providence. I walked out of that with my sister and some dude was in his car and he stopped on the street, and he was like, “You’re Jared Donaldson!” I was like “Yeah,” and he said, “Rock on, bro! I love you!” 

First time I travelled abroad
I always used to go to Atlantis when I was young, in the Bahamas, but the first time I really travelled abroad for tennis was when I went to Argentina when I was 14 to train and live there two-and-a-half years. 

First thing I bought with prize money
I guess I’m pretty frugal, I don’t really spend a lot of money. I rented a house, I guess. That was my first big thing, where I thought I’m kinda on my own, I’m living in a house. 

First autograph I got
Barry Bonds. I was five or six years old, at Atlantis. He was actually my idol growing up. I got an earring because of him. I walked up to Barry Bonds, it was the year after he broke the season record for home runs, and I asked him what it was like hitting all those home runs. He just smiled and said it felt really good. 

First celebrity crush
(long pause) That’s a tough one! This is more recent, I probably had a crush on someone when I was younger I don’t remember, but I’ll say Jennifer Lawrence. She’s a good actress, she’s good-looking, so I’ll say J.Law. 

First album I bought
‘Curtain Call’ by Eminem 

First pet
Midnight, my cat. I was in second grade.  

Alexander Zverev battled through a testing opening match at the Shenzhen Open on Thursday evening, edging Steve Darcis 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in two hours and 48 minutes. “I’m just happy to go through. I was down a break in both sets and it’s good to win those matches,” said the German, who is closing in on a spot at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. 

Looking to defeat Zverev for the second time this year, Darcis twice put himself in a strong position to win the match. After securing the first set with a break in the third game, the Belgian served for the match at 6-5 in the second set, but could not get to match point as Zverev fought back to level. The 33-year-old Darcis then served for a 5-3 advantage in the decider, but Zverev converted his fourth break point in a lengthy game, and went on to prevail in the eventual tie-break.

The 20-year-old Zverev was playing his first tour-level match since a shock second-round loss at the US Open (l. to Coric). This week, Zverev resumes his campaign to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. The right-hander, who has won two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles this season in Rome and Montreal, is currently third in the Emirates ATP Race To London. On Friday he will play in-form Damir Dzumhur in the quarter-finals.

Last week’s St. Petersburg champion Dzumhur extended his winning streak to seven matches after a beating Slovakian qualifier Lukas Lacko 6-4, 6-3 in a match in which he did not face a break point. The 25-year-old from Bosnia & Herzegovina is at a career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of 40 and has won 15 of his past 18 matches since reaching the Los Cabos semi-finals in the first week of August.

Israel’s Dudi Sela upset third seed Mishca Zverev 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in one hour and 46 minutes, breaking serve three times and winning 72 per cent of his service points.The No. 77-ranked Sela is bidding to reach his first ATP World Tour semi-final since the first week of the season in Chennai (l. to Medvedev) and goes on to face fifth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov, who won an all-Ukrainian battle with Sergiy Stakhovsky 7-6(5), 6-4.

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#NextGenATP star Taylor Fritz is through to the quarter-finals of the Chengdu Open after finishing strongly to defeat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 on Thursday in the first week of the ATP World Tour Asian swing.

The 19-year-old Fritz is looking for a big push in the closing stages of the season as he bids to qualify for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals. The right-hander is currently 11^th in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, with the Top 7 qualifying by right and the eighth spot going to the winner of an all-Italian wild-card tournament.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” said Fritz, who came through qualifying at this ATP World Tour 250 tournament. “The match was really physical and we were both hitting the ball really big. I was doing a lot of moving because he plays so aggressive and attacks so much.

“I’ve definitely found the best tennis I’ve ever played at the end of this year,” added the American. “This is my third quarter-final of the year. I’ve been playing really good since the hard-court season. I started the year still recovering from a knee injury and that’s what hurt me a lot at the end of last year. Now I finally feel like I’m getting it back and I think I’m playing better than when I was at my career-high ranking.”

Fritz is looking to return to an ATP World Tour semi-final for the first time since making his breakthrough with a final run in Memphis in February 2016 (l. to Nishikori). He goes on to face Argentina’s Guido Pella, who upset top seed Dominic Thiem 7-6(6), 6-4.

World No. 72 Pella edged a tight first set, in which both players held a set point, and seized the momentum at the start of the second set with an immediate break of Thiem’s serve. Thiem fended off two match points to hold in the ninth game, and had a break point as Pella serve for the match, but could not deny the Argentine, who held on for victory in one hour and 56 minutes.

Another of the top seeds fell as fourth-seeded Andrey Rublev was defeated 6-2, 6-1 by Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei in 54 minutes. The 34-year-old Lu, 15 years older than Rublev, converted four of his 12 break points as he reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final since Winston-Salem in August 2016.

Lu goes on to face Marcos Baghdatis, who defeated last week’s Metz champion Peter Gojowczyk 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 47 minutes. Baghdatis withstood 14 aces to break serve four times, claiming his 15^th win of the season. The Cypriot is looking to reach his third ATP World Tour semi-final of the season.

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Chengdu Open – Chengdu, China

The top four seeds — Dominic Thiem, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev — attended the Chengdu Open Players’ Party at the St. Regis Chengdu, where they received a gift from the tournament with their names written in Chinese calligraphy.

Wu Yibing, who recently became the youngest Chinese winner on the ATP Challenger Tour circuit just a week after claiming the US Open Boys’ Singles and Doubles titles, attended the draw ceremony.

#NextGenATP Karen Khachanov, Jared Donaldson and Taylor Fritz visited the Chengdu pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Donaldson was on top of his panda trivia, asking, “Did you know that China owns the rights to every panda in the world, except two? Those two are in Mexico.” Read and Watch

Marcos Baghdatis and #NextGenATP Borna Coric put their culinary skills to the test, attempting to make Chinese meat dumplings. Read and Watch

“There are not a lot of similarities between American and Chinese culture – we don’t have bamboo and cultural places like this,” said Donaldson, who joined Sweden’s Mikael Ymer on a trip to ‘Wangjian Lou’, a cultural attraction in Chengdu that roughly means ‘river view pavilion.’ The duo learned calligraphy and played mini-tennis in the park. Read and Watch

Shenzhen Open – Shenzhen, China

Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev joined David Goffin and Paolo Lorenzi at the Shenzhen Open Players’ Party. The Zverevs continued an annual tradition in which players competing in the event leave their handprint in a piece of artwork.

Alexander Zverev, the tournament’s top seed, visited the Shenzhen Grand Gemdale Tennis Club in Pingshan, an hour’s drive off-site, where he held a clinic for players in the academy.

China’s own Ze Zhang and Israeli Dudi Sela attended the draw ceremony.

Lorenzi and Jeremy Chardy played mini-tennis in front of the tournament hotel to help launch the tournament.

Doubles players Marcelo Melo and Alexander Peya played tennis with local kids and offered photo opportunities.

He caught the imagination of the tennis world when he reached the semi-finals of the Coupe Rogers in Montreal, and 18-year-old Denis Shapovalov’s stunning backhand pass against Adrian Mannarino not only drew the applause of his opponent, but was voted by fans as the #NextGenATP Shining Shot for the third quarter of 2017.

In a poll run last week, Shapovalov’s winning backhand received 61 per cent of the fans’ vote. Alexander Zverev’s 49-shot rally with Richard Gasquet earned 21 per cent of the vote, while shots from Alexander Bublik, Matteo Berrettini and Tommy Paul received 13 per cent, four per cent and two per cent, respectively.

View Complete Results For #NextGenATP Shining Shot

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