First Impressions
If the second set of their first round match is any indication, Jason Jung and Brayden Schnur have pretty opposite temperaments. While Schnur grunts loudly, Jung is silent but for small exhalations after he strikes the ball. When he cracks an inside-out forehand return that is called in but Schnur is convinced is out, Jung goes to his towel, puffs his cheeks out, and smiles slightly as Schnur stares down the line judge. When Jung nailed a return onto the line while two points from winning the match, a bad line call forced the point to be replayed. Jung flung his arms skyward to bemoan the call, but was smiling as he did so.
Down a break in the second set, Jung runs down a drop shot and flicks away a forehand winner to restore parity, barely reacting while Schnur screams “UNBELIEVABLE!” As two players walk through the back of the court Jung and Schnur are playing on to get to their own court (the second in a row of three), Jung playfully flicks a ball at them.
Schnur is clearly a perfectionist from the way he urges himself on, at one point saying “that’s a good return, that’s good, come on come on come on!” By comparison, Jung is pretty impassive whether he wins a point or loses it (besides a huge roar after saving break point at 2-3 in the third, then another after holding for 5-3). That said, his scrappy game makes it evident he also holds himself to a high standard. This isn’t to say that one approach is better than the other; it was the contrast that intrigued me, and I was sufficiently absorbed that dragging myself away from the match to make Ivo Karlović’s virtual press conference was a struggle.
They were even dressed oppositely — both wore white shoes, shirts, and caps, but Schnur’s shorts were red and Jung’s were neon green.
Jung’s game isn’t an enormously imposing one, from what I can tell — he is a good mover and returns very well (after just a set and a half against Schnur, Jung had already broken five times and seen 15 break points, despite Schnur serving at 67% up to that point. And tellingly, most of Jung’s small disappointed reactions came after missed returns) but lacks the huge weapons necessary to win big titles on tour. Still, it’s evident that Jung knows how to have fun on a tennis court.
I had read that Jung lost a couple matches from match point up a year or two ago the day before, but I didn’t remember this until I returned to the match later.
Second Impressions
When I came back from Karlović’s press conference, the match had turned. Schnur was serving better and wasn’t giving up break points anymore, and his demeanor had calmed as his level rose. He took the second set by playing a perfect tiebreak, having navigated a multi-deuce 4-5 service game a few minutes earlier. Schnur’s strong serving continued into the third set, but after going several games without earning a break point, Jung converted one at 3-all. Despite an extremely rare series of three consecutive double faults when Jung was serving for the match, he managed to recover before the second tiebreak and claimed it 7-4.
It was really quite the reset after the three double faults in a row. I thought he was toast after Schnur held to go up 6-5 in the third, since Jung hadn’t seen a break point in so long and got crushed in the second set tiebreak. But when he experienced the tiebreak version of serving for the match with two serves in hand at 5-4, he ended a succession of slices with a wicked drop shot, then took his first match point to seal the win in three hours and 20 minutes. To add insult to injury for Schnur, the American slipped and fell to the ground after missing on the final point.
Jung is 32. He has won four Challenger titles and attended the University of Michigan. But what caught my eye the most as I was researching him prior to the tournament was that he has a tennis blog.
As a fan of tennis, writing articles has helped me better understand parts of the game. Though he hasn’t written anything on the blog since 2019, I wondered if it had done the same for him, and I was curious about the blog in general (as well as how he recovered after the choke late in the third set to win the match). I got to ask him a few questions after the match.
The Racket: How did you mentally reset when you stopped seeing break points as frequently and when you weren’t able to serve for the match?
Jason Jung: That’s a good question [laughs]. I did have a lot of break points today, and in the past I would get a little bit down on myself if I didn’t get through those, but today I just kept my head down and kept working and kept plugging away. Brayden, he’s always had a big serve, so I have to give him credit for some of those break points, but I just kept going.
The Racket: I couldn’t help but notice when I was researching you before this tournament that you have a tennis blog. What inspired you to start it?
Jason Jung: When I first started on the tour, it was more for friends and family to see where I was and get a little bit more inside perspective on what the tour was like. But to be honest, I haven’t really updated it in the last two years. I’ve been a little bit…I wouldn’t say lazy, but I just feel like some of the experiences or the places have been the same. But I will do a better job of updating that.
The Racket: In the past, has writing about your matches helped you get more in touch with some of the layers of the game?
Jason Jung: Yeah, I mean, at times it gives me some perspective of playing, because not everyone’s Novak [Djokovic] and gonna win all year, so there are a lot of losses, and you do have to keep perspective on everything in life and not get too bogged down on losses. This year has been a true test for me with losses [prior to Newport, Jung was 6-13 on the year], so with the blog from before, it’s more about perspective.