The City That Never Sleeps... and Neither Did We

What’s up guys, it’s Jack!

This week’s newsletter is brought to you by a crew here in Austin that’s been helping me rebuild some of my fundamentals from the ground up.

Shoutout to Reyes Performance Institute, a training facility that’s doing things the right way. They’re all about performance longevity, injury prevention, and sharpening the tools that keep me moving efficiently on and off the court. Whether it’s mobility, strength, or dialing in mechanics I didn’t even realize were holding me back, they’ve been game changers in my routine.

If you’re in Austin and serious about your movement, highly suggest you check them out.

I am so stoked to finally get to talk on this amazing weekend I had. APP New York ran from May 22 to the 24th and it’s one of the four majors on tour, which means more prize money and just a lot more pressure all around.

Let’s get into it.

Men’s Doubles

For men’s doubles, I played with a new partner. Normally I team up with Will Howells, but he was off playing MLP, so I rolled with Aidan Schenk for the first time. Aidan’s actually beaten me twice before at Next Gen, so I’ve had a lot of experience going against him, but never with him. That made it feel pretty natural. We already knew each other’s patterns and tendencies just from competing so much, so even though it was our first time on the same side, it felt solid from the jump.

We had a handful of three-game matches but made it to Sunday and faced my roommate Len Yang in the finals. Now Len is from New York, and it felt like we were honestly playing in his backyard. The crowd was loud and all in for him. Huge credit to Len, but Aidan and I got the win in three and took gold.

Mixed Doubles

In mixed, I was back with Megan Fudge. We’ve been building something strong together, and this weekend was another step forward. We faced Chris Hayworth and Amanda Hendry in the finals. Chris has a big singles background, and it showed. He hit the hardest serve I’ve ever faced and had one of the best drives I’ve seen. We dropped game two but stayed calm, made the right adjustments, and took the third.

This match stood out because of how much we had to adapt. Chris’s style forced us to come up with some new patterns, and that’s something I take pride in. I’ve always valued being flexible. In mixed, it’s not just about me. I’m setting Megan up, reading the court for both of us, and making decisions that give us the edge.

In Good Company

Winning with someone new in men’s and continuing to grow with Megan in mixed both meant a lot. That kind of versatility is something I’ve worked hard to build.

The weekend wasn’t smooth. Rain delays pushed us indoors at Queens College for the first two days, which definitely threw things off. But the APP team handled it well and turned Championship Saturday into something special. The venue at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center looked amazing, the weather finally cleared, and the matches were aired on ESPN. The whole day felt like a major.

Since things wrapped early, I actually had Sunday off. My best friend Adrian flew in from California and we got to spend the day exploring. We tried Ceres, a pizza spot run by two Michelin star chefs, and it might be the best pizza I’ve ever had. I’ve officially been converted to crunchy pizza. We also stopped by the 9/11 Memorial, which was such a meaningful way to spend part of my Memorial Day weekend.

All in all, I’m just feeling grateful. Two golds in New York, a new partnership that clicked, and another chapter with Megan that shows how far we’ve come. Plus time with one of my closest friends to cap it all off.

That’s a Wrap

I’ll be taking a little break to recover and test out the new paddle from ProXR. They just dropped something I’ve been wanting to try, so I’ll see how it feels before the next big one.

Next stop is APP Newport over Fourth of July weekend. I’ve got something fun lined up in middle of June down in the Cayman Islands, more of an exhibition than a tournament, but looking forward to that too.

Thanks for following along. More to come.

— Jack Munro