Unlocking a "Dog"

After nearly becoming stuck in obscurity, Ethan Quinn was able to break through a falling ceiling.

PARIS, France — Longtime subscribers may recall that my first reporting trip for Bounces, in its first month of existence, was to a mid-range ATP Challenger event in Charlottesville, Virginia in October 2024, where I watched players in a sort of purgatorial middle ground, unsure who might swim and who might sink.

At the Challengers, More Middling Than Movie Magic

Nearly seven months later, two of the players I met in Charlottesville could figure into Day 3 of the French Open in a big way. The first is Learner Tien, who faces Alexander Zverev in a first round match he has a plausible shot in, having beaten Zverev pretty soundly in their one previous meeting in Acapulco.

But the player I want to spend more time discussing here is a Charlottesville alumnus whose trajectory had seemed much less certain last year.