The King of Clay sits on his throne

Here is our 2016 French Open champion, Daniel Menchik. If you look closely, you can see that Daniel is proudly wearing his prize, the cap of the Humble Bull.



Earlier today, I caught up with Daniel at Crunchy's, his favorite restaurant in East Lansing.

How does it feel to win your first FTL major title during your rookie season?
I’m still in shock. It feels like just yesterday I was a humble ballboy. More generally, it feels like a dream; I grew up watching FTLers at academic conferences, so I have been a bit bewildered by becoming a contemporary. And this transformation is especially meaningful, coming as it does at the French, a tournament about which my FTL coach once said (before he broke his neck sliding into a net post): “Listen, you have to focus on this tournament -- this is a tournament you must win.”

Does this give you more confidence moving forward as we head into Wimbledon?

Well, tonight I’m going to celebrate with my team. Then it’s back to work. This is definitely the win of my career; I’ve worked all my life to get here. But I know I have to keep thinking one tournament at a time. With this game, surface is everything. I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to transition to clay effectively given my ethnographic research (as a ballboy) was all on hard courts. Grass poses some surprises but I feel good about my ideas about competitors -- I might even have a few lone wolf picks up my sleeve. But even if this early success does give me some confidence, I’m also acutely aware of the expectations it brings. So I’m trying to stay level-headed and tune out all the chatter.

What fantasy tennis advice (if any) has Jeremy given you this year?

We actually haven’t discussed fantasy tennis. The real help Jeremy offered involved risking his reputation in proposing I be considered for the FTL. Once the season started it’s been all business, which is fine -- I mean, he’s very professional in the locker room, and at the sociology conferences, you know? Most importantly I guess is how he led by example, demonstrating that even if few to no Grand Slam champs hail from the Midwest, it’s possible still for an FTLer there to live his fantasy.