Last summer, JC Aragone, then a J.P. Morgan intern in the private wealth management department, left work one day from the company’s Park Avenue office in Manhattan and made the trek to Flushing Meadows in his suit. He was near the end of an intensive three-month long program that forced the University of Virgina scholar-athlete — who played mostly at No. 5 singles this season — to be in the office all summer, virtually never seeing a tennis court.
If you would have told that soon-to-be college senior that the next year he would be playing in the main draw of the US Open, Aragone would have called you crazy.
But 24 hours prior to the US Open Qualifying tournament, Aragone learned that he would receive a wild card into the qualies after Marcos Giron got in on his own ranking, and the 22-year-old world No. 536 got through the first three Slam qualifying matches of his career to reach the main draw of the US Open and guarantee himself at least a $50,000 check.
Forget the difficulties of returning to form after virtually taking an entire summer off of tennis — Aragone has had worse. He had a reaction to acne medication nearly six years ago that would cause kidney and liver failure, forcing him into a coma that kept the 16-year-old in a hospital for a couple of months and forced him off the court for around a year and a half as he was weaned off of medication.
What's more, after playing the USTA Boys’ 18s National Championships in Kalamazoo in 2012, he got bloodwork done and was diagnosed with diabetes. While that was an adjustment for Aragone at first, he has persevered and taken as many positives he could out of his health issues, using them to try to inspire others.
USOpen.org caught up with Aragone on the eve of him playing his first-ever Grand Slam main draw match against South Africa's Kevin Anderson.
USOpen.org: What was the first thought in your mind when you qualified?
J.C. Aragone: I was like in shock. I couldn’t believe what happened, especially with the kind of journey I had to New York where I wasn’t even in the draw, and next thing I know I squeaked in there. I was just grateful to play one match and then somehow I’m playing my second one and next thing you know I’m qualifying for the US Open, so it all just kind of happened quickly and I didn’t know how to put it together at the moment.
USOpen.org: You closed out team championships for the University of Virginia at National Indoors, the ACC Championships and in the national championship match. What was harder, closing all of those out or finishing off the third round of US Open Qualifying?
J.C. Aragone: For sure those team titles. When you’re playing a college match, there are so many distractions. The crowd is completely different. I don’t want to talk trash about college tennis, but sometimes the crowd could be overwhelming, especially with the things they’re saying. You have a lot more distractions. You’re constantly looking at other people’s scores. You’re trying to rush so you can finish. There’s just a lot more going on whereas here, the US Open is very stressful, but you just have to focus on one thing and that’s doing your job rather than worry about all these other aspects you can’t really control on a college team.
USOpen.org: You went through a lot health-wise before college. Is this accomplishment more valuable now because of what you’ve gone through?
J.C. Aragone: Sure. But again, my health issues also helped me. There are positives that I took away from that. If it wasn’t for my health issues I wouldn’t have gone to college and I probably would’ve gone straight pro. So that was something from kind of a down time in my life that ended up turning into a positive. And then again I’m just trying to make the most of what I can now. Given that now I’m kind of under the spotlight, especially during this tournament, I’m trying to talk to different diabetes associations and trying to become a part of their team and help reach out to kids who are athletes and struggle with diabetes. [I'm tryng to be] kind of an ambassador to spread the word that while diabetes is something that is very unfortunate, it’s very manageable and it’s not going to stop your dreams.
USOpen.org: How much does dealing with your diabetes put your tennis into perspective?
J.C. Aragone: I mean, yeah, it’s tough. But then again, it’s like anything. We all are born with a set of cards and we have to find a way to deal with them. So as tough as it is, everything in life you have to learn how to manage it. It took an adjustment the first couple of years, but once I kind of got into the hang of things and now that I’m able to manage it correctly, I don’t really think it’s holding me back or causing me any problems because I’m prepared and I know what to expect from it. As unfortunate as it is, I’m making the most out of it, like I said, trying to help out different associations and trying to find a way to use my diabetes as a positive.
USOpen.org: How do you manage it on the court? Do you have to check your sugar numbers on every changeover?
J.C. Aragone: I have this special monitor called the Dexcom G5. It’s actually pretty amazing. It’s like a bluetooth sensor and it checks my sugar 24 hours a day. I have a little monitor and literally on the changeovers I just open my bag and look at the monitor and it gives me the level of my sugar so I don’t really have to prick my finger. It’s just one less thing to worry about. And then in case something happens, that monitor alerts my family members, my trainers, whoever I want that way they could also be prepared if something does happen. So as I said it’s just another way of managing it and it’s actually been extremely helpful, especially at this level of tennis.
USOpen.org: If fans at the US Open should know one thing about you, what is it?
J.C. Aragone: I’m going to fight to the end. That’s definitely one thing that my health issues and life experiences have given me--I'm not going to give up. I’m going to fight until the last point and if you’re on my court, guys [you're]going to be in for a battle.