It was a little hard for JJ Wolf to believe that this weekend will mark his fourth appearance in the Western & Southern Open.
"I hadn't thought about that," Wolf said. "Thanks for making me feel old."
It's his home tournament and his favorite, and maybe it means a little more this year after the tournament was moved to New York last year.
Whatever the case may be, Wolf's always happy to play at home.
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"I go to a lot of places, but for me, I'm kind of a homebody," Wolf said. "So there's really no place like home. It's kind of the thing I'm working for always throughout the summer, all year really. It's the tournament I look forward to the most.
"It's a world-class tournament and also being in my hometown, not many tennis players get to have that so I feel very lucky."
Last year in New York was the first time Wolf made his way through qualifying – two wins – to play his way into the main draw where he lost in the first round. He'll attempt to play his way into the main draw again this weekend.
Wolf, who's the No. 151 singles player in the world in the ATP Tour rankings, only recently returned to competition after more than eight months away from tennis.
Wolf said he had a double hernia and a sports hernia that required a pair of surgeries. In the month since he's returned he's played in Mexico at the Los Cabos Open, in Atlanta and Washington D.C., and this week, ahead of the W&S Open, Wolf played in Toronto, Canada.
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The W&S Open is a lot more to Wolf than simply a trip home. It's an opportunity to share something he loves with the people he loves. Wolf picked tennis over baseball, soccer and basketball, and he's happy he did. Even happier when he gets to share it with his family.
"Sometimes it can be tough," the former Ohio State star said. "There's a lot of losing that goes on in tennis. There's nowhere to hide when you do. So you always think ... I could be maybe on a boat at the lake hanging with my friends right now, instead I'm grinding out another tournament. But I'm thankful for it. And I think it makes me a stronger person. I wouldn't change it for the world."
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The extended Wolf family will be out in full force again this weekend when Wolf takes the court.
"Being able to have my friends and family surrounding me. A lot of my friends throughout the year never actually get to see me play, so I've got a couple friends that are coming in from out of town and taking work off. So I'm going to try to give them a good show," Wolf said.
Wolf, who's still rocking the mullet hairstyle that he adopted a while back, will be on the court Saturday but his opponent and match time won't be announced until later Friday night.
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