Escobedo Chasing 'Taste Of Success' In Houston

It all happened so fast for Ernesto Escobedo, maybe too fast. At the start of 2017, the American was No. 141 in the ATP Rankings.

But after he reached his maiden ATP World Tour semi-final in Houston last April, he rose to No. 73, with his eyes peering toward the Top 50.

Brad Gilbert, a former Top 5 player who coached Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, predicted Escobedo would qualify for the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, where eight of the world's best 21-and-under players competed last November.

But Escobedo didn't reach the Top 50 or Milan. High expectations and a lack of focus caused the right-hander to finish outside the Top 100 of the 2017 year-end ATP Rankings.

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“I just had a lot of distractions around me, on and off the court, and I didn't really handle them well, and that was a life lesson for me, to go through that,” Escobedo told ATPWorldTour.com.

Now, however, the 21-year-old considers that lesson learned. He's back at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship a year after the best run of his career and intent on making a similar push this clay-court season.

“I'm in a much better place right now,” Escobedo said. “I just have to be more patient with myself. It's a long process, getting back into the Top 100 again, but I'm just focused on having a good week here, having fun.”

Any professional can relate to Escobedo's struggle. You have a few great days at work, and you think, “Why isn't every week like that?” Especially when you have as good of a week as Escobedo had last year.

Before 2017 Houston, he had never reached an ATP World Tour quarter-final. But Escobedo beat countryman and 2013 Houston titlist John Isner 7-6(6), 6-7(6), 7-6(5) in three hours and three minutes to make his maiden ATP World Tour semi-final last April.

“Before that I never had any taste of success in my life,” Escobedo said.

Read More: Escobedo Relishing Indian Wells Moment

He thought the results and his bigger dreams – the Top 10 and winning “Big Titles” – would be around the corner. But pressure from himself and others distracted him. Later in Halle, Escobedo also suffered a bone bruise on his right foot that further derailed his 2017. He didn't reach another quarter-final all of last year.

This year, however, Escobedo's coach has seen a maturing player. In 2017, Peter Lucassen had to encourage Escobedo to stay on court longer and work on his weapons – his serve and his forehand – or on transitioning from defence to offence.

But this year, it's Escobedo who's volunteering to grind, and it has shown in his results. He picked up his first Top 10 win in Acapulco (d. No. 10 Sock) and beat Delray Beach Open champion Frances Tiafoe at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

“Now he's back with a full 100 per cent mental engagement. He's excited about practising. He's excited about getting better. He wants to do some extra stuff, day in and day out,” Lucassen told ATPWorldTour.com.

“He's understanding what his job is going to be for the next 10 years.”

In other words, Escobedo is again showing the traits of his teenaged years, when Lucassen met him. Lucassen was a collegiate tennis player at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and Escobedo was a 14-year-old living in the area and looking for hitting partners.

A friend of Lucassen's had told him about Escobedo. Lucassen remembers meeting “a really, really nice and shy kid. He would listen to every word. Really humble. Really hard-working. A really cool kid.”

One key detail has changed since they first met, though. At the time, Lucassen was near the prime of his playing career, having helped the USC Trojans win the 2011 NCAA Team Championship. Escobedo, meanwhile, was a teenager still honing his game.

These days, however, Lucassen hasn't played a collegiate or professional match for seven years, and Escobedo is improving every day.

“He got way better than me,” Lucassen said before laughing.