Nicholas Godsick and Ethan Quinn got to live the teenage dream this summer: After winning the USTA Boys’ National Championships in Kalamazoo in July, they earned a wild card into the 2022 US Open men’s doubles main draw and didn’t drop a set in their first-ever main-draw match at a Grand Slam.
The pair beat Nikoloz Basilashvili and Hans Hach Verdugo in Round 1, saving all three break points against them and winning 92% of their serve and volley points. But unfortunately for the young Americans, their run ended Saturday at the hands of the sixth-seeded team of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic of Croatia, 6-1, 6-3.
It was a tough match against the 2020 Olympic gold medalists and 2021 Wimbledon champions, but 17-year-old Godsick and 18-year-old Quinn fought for each point and fired off some winners down the center of the court. The dynamic duo strategized, fist-bumped, or high-fived between nearly every point, unlike their Croatian counterparts.
“We went onto the court just hoping for the best and basically everything we threw at them they had already seen countless times,” Quinn said.
“They're just so good. I mean, we were hitting great shots and we were losing every single point, whereas in our first round we were doing the things we normally did and they were working a bit better than today."
Quinn played two matches in Queens before taking the court with his partner. As the runner-up to the boys’ singles champion Learner Tien in Kalamazoo, the Fresno, Calif. native had a ticket into the men’s qualifying draw. He won his first match against Ernesto Escobedo in three tough sets, and lost his second against No. 134 Federico Delbonis—but not before winning the first set.
After the Saturday afternoon loss, the redshirt freshman at the University of Georgia is returning to Athens and will play his first home match later this month. As exciting as the summer has been, the former No. 25 on the ITF junior circuit is ready to go back to school.`
“It's nice that summer's over, [I] can go back to school and finally actually be in class, practicing with my team, doing the things I need there,” he said. “It's been a long summer for the both of us. Getting to play in our first men's [US] Open together was pretty special. For me, getting to play in the qualies and get my first tour-level win was pretty special for me."
But Godsick is sticking around in Queens a little longer before he heads back home for his senior year of high school. He will face No. 14 seed Yaroslav Demin in the first round of boys’ singles, and is pairing up with Canadian Jaden Weekes in doubles.
“As much as the loss today hurts,” Godsick said, “I know I have another opportunity to play better.”
On-court success runs in Godsick’s blood. His mother is Mary Joe Fernandez, the two-time Olympic gold medalist in women’s doubles, three-time Grand Slam singles finalist and three-time Grand Slam doubles champion. Tony Godsick, his father, is Roger Federer’s agent.
His family is legendary, but the Stanford-commit showed that he can keep up with some of the best players in the world during Saturday’s match on Court 11. He and Quinn held their own against an opponent nearly twice their age, and the 17-year-old even crushed a 118 mph ace.
“When we got here we just wanted to cherish the experience because most 17-year-olds, 18-year-olds don't get to say they played in the US Open,” Godsick said.
"We just wanted to have fun, go out there, play our best, show everyone what we're capable of. I know we both will remember this for the rest of our lives.”
