Inside Cash & Tracy's partnership: From surgery & finance to US Open stardom
When JJ Tracy was going through the process of figuring out which university he would attend, the product of Ann Arbor, Michigan and Hilton Head, South Carolina visited Ohio State University. His host on the trip was Robert Cash, whom he had crossed paths with in the juniors but never played against or with.
“Usually because I wouldn’t make it that far in the tournaments,” Tracy said.
“No, he’s not giving himself credit,” Cash, from New Albany, Ohio, quickly added.
Both Americans laughed. Today, they are close friends and doubles partners on the ATP Tour who are into the semi-finals of the US Open, trying to become the only All-American men’s doubles team to claim the title this century besides twins Bob and Mike Bryan.
But the former Buckeyes’ bond truly began to form on that visit before they were teammates.
“I just realised how down to earth JJ was. It’s kind of rare in tennis,” Cash said. “I felt like we had a connection off the rip. We were very similar in a lot of ways. He was very cool, very funny, meshed with the team extremely well on his visit and then when he started school, he worked harder than everybody else and that’s what I really admired about him.
“He tried so hard on the court and was an unbelievable teammate, unbelievable friend. I just think that we get along so well off court and on court, and it helps us both ways.”
Cash’s longtime dream has been to go to medical school and eventually become a surgeon and his partner, Tracy, studied finance at Ohio State.
“Never really got to get a big head about any special finance major because we had a couple doctors on the team,” Tracy joked.
The pair’s professional journey nearly was over before it began. In the 2024 NCAA Doubles Championship, Cash and Tracy faced two match points in the semi-finals. Had they let slip one of those points, Cash would have fully focused on medical school applications and Cash would have put his energy into singles.
Instead, they won the tournament and earned a US Open wild card. They also were awarded a wild card into the Hall of Fame Open, reaching their first ATP Tour final there. The Americans made enough progress on the ATP Challenger Tour at the end of the season that they decided to forge forward together and Cash put his dream of becoming a surgeon on pause.
This year they won their first tour-level title in Los Cabos and with their semi-final run in New York are 11th in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings.
“It’s unbelievable. I was playing singles back then, but never in a million years would I go play a 15K or a Challenger in singles and trade it for this. I mean, this is unbelievable,” Tracy said. “It’s been super special to see us climb the ranks, from winning our first Challenger tournament to stringing a few of them together, making our first ATP appearance and Los Cabos, getting our first title.
“We were getting interviewed some in Los Cabos and I kept saying that our goal is to win one of every level of tournament. We’ve knocked out everything except 500, 1,000 and this, so this would be a good one to knock off.”
A clear reason behind the Americans’ success is how well they get along and work together. They don’t just merge together well in terms of their games, but also their personalities.
“He’s just really easy to be around. He’s always got a good attitude, great energy,” Cash said. “People feed off of him, and nothing really brings him down, so he’s always got a smile on his face, bringing people, putting smiles on people’s faces around him, and such an easy guy to be around.”
Tracy said: “[He is a] very good leader off the court, on the court. There’s been times in my life I was down, there are times I’m down, he’s always knocking on my door saying, ‘What’s the deal, dude? What’s good?’ He’s always trying to pick me back up. He led all through college as a teammate, as a friend.”
When Cash and Tracy advanced to the last four on Wednesday evening, countryman Ben Shelton posted his congratulations on Instagram Stories: “Hype for these boys”. They were all in college at the same time.
“I thought it was very nice of him, the college crew kind of sticks together. That guy absolutely is crushing it. He hit the ground running. He’s a super, super nice guy off court. Very humble, very grounded, and he’s been nothing but supportive and nice to JJ and I off the court,” Cash said. “He didn’t have to do that. He’s Top 10 in the world in singles. He doesn’t have to give us the time of day, but he’s such a nice guy off the court, and we’re really appreciative of that.”
The former college standouts know their job is not yet done. Cash and Tracy return to the court Thursday to face this year’s Roland Garros champions Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos for a place in the final.
“Our coach has been on us all the time about it off the court. He tells us to stay in the dirt. Stay in the dirt, just don’t go too far in the clouds, look too far in advance,” Cash said. “We’ve got to take it one step at a time. There’s still matches to be played, matches to be won. The job’s not finished, so we need to be happy, celebrate the win tonight. But we’ve got to focus and put all our energy and effort towards the match tomorrow.”
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