AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 22, 2026

Ethan Quinn

Press Conference

E. QUINN/H. Hurkacz

6-4, 7-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Ethan, congratulations on the win today. How are you feeling coming off the court?

ETHAN QUINN: Tired. It's nice getting two matches done in straight sets, but you know, they're still physical no matter what. Everyone is really good at this level, and they're going to push you to your best.

Fortunately, I was focused, and all the training in the offseason really helped me out, but I was still a little bit tired and just going to get recovered and ready for two days' time.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I'm just curious, what have you found is the difference between playing best-of-five and best-of-three and how you have kind of managed that?

ETHAN QUINN: I think my first five-set match that I played I was really neurotic about how to get ready for it. I remember calling my coach and being, like, Do I set an alarm every half hour in the middle of the night to hydrate? So I wasn't really prepared for it.

But now I feel like I've gotten a lot more comfortable with I know that my training has got me ready. I know how to hydrate the day before. I know how to kind of stay off my feet the day before.

So now kind of going into five sets, you know it's all about being physical early, if you are able to set the tone early. Sometimes you can see guys tap out a little bit. Two-out-of-three sets, you're never going to see that, really. Everyone is very physical, like I was saying just a minute ago.

They're ready for those two-out-of-three-set matches. They won't get beat physically. So I think that's the main difference is just the physicality between two-out-of-three versus three-out-of-five.

Q. What was it like returning that serve?

ETHAN QUINN: It was tricky. You know, he hits a lot of his spots really well. He's able to hit up to 220. You know, he is able to kind of misdirect you with his toss as well, so I was kind of, at the start of the match, I couldn't really see a pattern. I couldn't really see where he was serving. The wind certainly didn't help at all with his second-serve return.

I was really uncomfortable with that. I was kind of playing around with my depths. If I was standing back or I was standing in, I couldn't really figure it out.

Eventually, I kind of got a little bit more comfortable with it. I started seeing a little bit more kind of how he was going about it. Once I was able to do that, I was kind of able to capitalize and not miss too many second- serve returns but also be on offense.

Q. You won two times at slams. I'm curious how much of this is still like, wow, I can't believe it, pinch me, I'm in the third round of the Australian Open, my first time in the main draw, and how much of this is like, yeah, business as usual and what I should expect from myself on some level?

ETHAN QUINN: Yeah, I was just saying to my agent when I was walking over here, this is the first time I've gotten a room. Then I was like, Oh, wait. Actually at the French I got another room for interviews as well.

I think each slam you get to experience something different. You know, first time making third round here. First time winning a slam match here.

So I think it's a little bit different than the French. I haven't yet won a Grand Slam match at US Open, which I'm looking forward to eventually doing in my career, but you know, I'm still trying to make sure that awe moment doesn't leave every time you make a deep run. I think that's something I'm going to try to keep throughout my career.

I was sitting next to Ben when I finished my match. You know, I'm sure his phone probably doesn't blow up as much anymore after he wins a slam match, but for me I'm having hundreds of messages. So it's now having to figure out how to balance that type of stuff after a match.

Q. One more bigger room for you to...

ETHAN QUINN: Yeah, exactly (smiling).

Q. How do you kind of do stuff? What do you like to do off the court? Is it right you play chess?

ETHAN QUINN: You know, I'm starting to get into it a little bit. I've been a little bit more Backgammon this week with my coaches, but looking to try to get into chess a little bit more.

Yesterday we actually went to the zoo. We went to the Melbourne Zoo. We saw the giraffes. So that was a lot of fun. I actually saw a bunch of other players there as well. Like Madison Keys' physio was there, I saw Dalibor Svrcina, a few of the women's players that I didn't recognize, but I knew that they were players.

You know, just trying to keep it light, trying to have fun. You know, you are only in Melbourne so much of the year, so I was just trying to do as much as I can yesterday while also staying out of the sun.

Q. Back on the chess, do you find it mindful, takes your mind off of things, or do you just enjoy playing the game?

ETHAN QUINN: It's a form of competing. I like to compete in whatever it is, the strategy involved with it, so I think that's kind of the thing I like about it the most.

Q. I think you're the third NCAA champion to make the third round today. I'm curious, do you think there is, like, the general characteristic that college players have that, like, you know, if you see a guy in the locker room who is a college player you think, oh, he's going to do X, Y, and Z, or he's this type of person?

ETHAN QUINN: You know, my first thought was they're a little bit more boisterous, but you don't really see that with Michael Zheng. Michael is a little bit more calm and collected, but he certainly has his moments.

Ben's locker is right next to mine, and for the most part, he and I are pretty outgoing, pretty loud. I think that's certainly a trait that we have. You know, we're willing to go out and get it.

You know, I think that's something that you have to learn going through college. You have to be really able to go out and get it. Sometimes you can get lost in the fact that there is, you know, 10 of you on a team, 12 of you on a team.

You have to make sure that you're also doing things for yourself. You know, coaches aren't going to do everything just for you, so you have to really make sure that you are going out and making sure you're doing things for yourself. You know, whether it's getting extra reps with individuals, going to see the strength and conditioning coach extra, you know, rather than doing two lifts a week, doing three maybe.

So I think that's certainly a trait that NCAA champs probably would have, is they're willing to go out and get it, and they're going to be loud about when they get it.

Q. You won eight of eight break points, and in a variety of ways. I think I saw service winners, big forehand, serve and volley. Talk a little bit about sort of that as a microcosm for where you are with your game.

ETHAN QUINN: You know, I think every time I was down break point, I made sure that I found my seven. That's kind of the number that we tend to use in my team. Just a place where there's still a little bit of pep in your step but also where it's relaxed and ready to go.

My team yells it throughout the court, so if you're sitting in the stadium, you're going to probably hear them say, Ethan, find your seven, something like that.

I think every single time before a break point I was able to kind of find that moment. I didn't feel rushed. I was able to pick my spot on the serve and just go after it.

I don't know if it was eight for eight on first serves made, as well, but I know a lot of them I did make first serves in, which, when I'm making first serves in, I'm able to kind of be on my front foot, and that's where I'm most comfortable.

Yeah, sorry (smiling).

Q. You've played main draw in all the other slams. The Australian Open is the final piece of the slam puzzle for you. I was wondering your thoughts on the event and the tournament itself in comparison to some of the others.

ETHAN QUINN: You know, last year in quallies, I had played two matches in quallies, and the environment is completely different.

Last year in quallies there wasn't quite as many people. I'd played on Court 14, so there wasn't as much foot traffic. It was really, you know, quiet.

It was something I wasn't really used to. I had really only played at that point, you know, US Open quallies, so I wasn't really expecting that. I was expecting all the slams to kind of have that same environment.

As I've now gotten in the main draw here, I've realized, you know, how rowdy it is, how electric it is, especially now playing on a stadium court. You know, there was a lot of Polish fans out there, which kind of reminded me as if I was in college. There was a lot of people yelling and chanting, whatever.

Some people, you missed the first serve, and they're chanting that you missed the first serve. So it really reminded me of college, and you know, kind of brought me back to this, like, whoa, I'm-here-now moment.

I think that was really, really special.

Q. Do you like that?

ETHAN QUINN: I love it. It doesn't matter where I'm at. If they're cheering against me, for me, everything, I just love being in that atmosphere.

Q. You kind of answered it, but I just wanted to ask about the attendance records at the Australian Open. They've been breaking records basically every day. I was wondering if that's a density that you can feel?

ETHAN QUINN: Yeah, I mean, I've walked around the grounds a little bit outside my matches. I went to the Polo store, I went to a few other stores. You know, you're having to wait in long lines. It's pretty cool.

You know, when you walk out, you don't get to breathe. You're kind of looking around. There's people bumping into you. I think that's a really good feeling.

When you are a player and you get to experience the outside part of the tennis, you really get to see, it's like, man, all these people are here to support us, cheer against us.

It's really nice to have, because there's such a love for tennis right now, I feel like. You see it every single year at the US Open. You see it -- I mean, basically every slam. There's a lot more people getting into tennis.

For me, as a tennis player, it kind of warms my heart seeing that.

Q. Did you buy anything at the stores?

ETHAN QUINN: I did. I did buy a few things with my discount (laughter).

Q. You mentioned it being nice to be here. I wanted to ask, when it comes to being back home, a lot has happened in the last year. There's a lot of tension there right now. I'm wondering how you feel about all of that and how it feels to play under that flag right now?

ETHAN QUINN: No comment on that.

Q. You mentioned having a locker next to Ben's. I'm curious, when you are playing against someone who you have a locker next to, is that ever awkward in the locker room? What do you do? Do you try and keep your space, stay away from your opponent, or how do you handle that situation?

ETHAN QUINN: No, I feel like a lot of times we're all pretty friendly in the locker room. You know, right before a match I played against Griekspoor, we shook hands. Just wanted a good match for each other.

Same with Hubie today warming up. We warmed up right next to each other. For the most part, there's not really a lot of animosity amongst the players.

You know, we're all here. We want the best for each other. We want each other to do well. Obviously, we want to beat each other when we're playing each other. But yeah, for the most part, it's nice having a lot of Americans kind of close to us in the locker room.

Even if there's guys that aren't American, I'm out there and dapping them up, whatever. It's fun just having little friendly rivalries and comments back and forth with each other.