Thursday, August 6, 2026

12:25 p.m. CT

Unfortunately I had to pull out of singles with a back issue. Mainly the back issue has been happening for about three weeks already. Three tournaments ago there was a really big singles event that I withdrew from because of of my back issues. I got everything taped, played pretty well in that tournament for doubles and mixed. Next tournament I was feeling good, which was the APP Malaysia. My dad said, "Okay, listen, just tape the whole tournament, tape everything."  So I did, and still in that tournament, I think I called about three to four medical timeouts when it would start acting a bit. But the tape really helped, so was really fortunate enough to get the singles title and the doubles title and silver in mixed. Yeah, but the back I don't know how it held up. It held up. Next tournament was actually feeling pretty good. It stopped hurting, playing decently well, no pain at all, and then we have our last tournament in the Philippines. That I played with no tape, even though I did not play singles for that because I don't think there was a singles draw, only mixed and doubles, zero pain, nothing happening. But one thing I should have kept in mind is that with these tournaments, I didn't have a long enough of a break. My longest break was three days, basically. I went from Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, and had a day-and-a-half to two days rest, and I came straight to Chicago. Traveling so much, it is a bit difficult to find good physio wherever I go. Chicago is my first tournament back in the U.S. for singles and I was really excited to play. It's like you know what, screw it. I'm gonna play. My dad was the one who was like, "QD, I think I think you shouldn't play singles for this tournament, you've been playing so much for like four weeks straight."  But I might as well just give it a shot. And I think I was a bit overconfident, not in the skill level, but in my like my own body. There's too much playing, too many tournaments going on, and that's kind of how it happened.

In the Round of 16 match against Ammar, I think overall it was an extremely tough match. To be honest, I think I got kind of lucky in the first set. I was down 2-7, came back up to 9-7. He came back, 9-all, and then I somehow pulled it out 11-9. Second set - I'm not using the back injury as an excuse. Ammar played really well in the entirety of the match. I think was 6-2 in in the second set. Ammar hit a really good, amazing inside shot. I went for it for too much and I immediately fell down. My back twisted and overall, yes, I should be be more careful next time.

So now we're gonna tape the back and then we're gonna play the pro invitational tonight. Doubles should be a lot easier on the back. A similar thing happened previously - I had a withdrawal because I was training for singles and back still hurt. So the main problem is singles. Too much movement, and not enough time for me because I travel around Asia, just back and forth, back and forth, too much, and I should have taken a lot better care. It is tough to take care with your body, especially with all the traveling. But I'm learning.

10:00 a.m. CT

Hey guys, it's QD here! I just got in around two days ago, actually, for the 2026 APP Vlasic Classic Chicago Benefiting Shriners Children's. I'm super excited! This is my first time in Chicago, actually. I know Chicago has really good pizza, the Chicago deep dish AND specialty. Actually, a lot of people do not know that Chicago Style, one of their other signature styles, is very crispy, thin crust pizza. Listen, I'm very open-minded. I would love to try both at the end of the tournament. Of course, I'm not gonna eat the pizza during the tournament, it's extremely heavy.

Honestly, Chicago's been very nice. Love the weather here. Just got to the venue, it's a very nice venue, lovely courts. Today is singles, and I'm very excited. Just finished my first match. It was pretty tough against one of my friends, Max Wild. If people look at the score they might not have seen that way. But it was a tough match. A lot of side outs, Max is a very good player, very lengthy guy as well, and I think next up I'm playing with one of my other friends, Ryan Fu. So it it's a bit different playing the U.S. Everybody I play is my friend, so I'm really excited.

Hopefully I still have some energy left because tonight is the Shriners Children's Pro Invitational Chicago event. I did awful in the first pro invitational because I got food poisoning, and actually the whole invitational event last time I had full-body cramps. So hopefully this time I don't get last place like last time!  

To all the fans and the Asian fans, hopefully see you guys around here or watch me live! Thank you!