NextGenATP Swiss Dominic Stricker earned his maiden Top 10 win on Wednesday at the US Open, where he upset World No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-3 to reach the third round at a major for the first time.
The 21-year-old, who is making his debut in New York, showed desire and quality throughout the four-hour, 10-minute epic to earn his second five-set win at a major. In humid conditions, the lefty rallied from 3-5 in the fourth set, while he was two points from defeat three times in the set.
“I came out today pretty well. I felt good from the first set on. It was a tough battle but I am just super happy right now,” Stricker said. “I am going to enjoy the rest of the day and then I will recover for the next round.
“I was down 3-5 and then I came back in the fourth set. I don’t know how, but I did it somehow and then I kept playing very high level tennis. I am a bit speechless but it is a great day.”
Stricker then found his best form in the deciding set, winning 83 per cent (19/23) of his first-serve points to advance. Stricker, who struck 78 winners against Tsitsipas, will aim to continue his run when he meets Benjamin Bonzi in the third round.
“Such a great day for me, such a great win,” Stricker added. “It gives me a lot of confidence and I think it is great to see from my team. We are working hard everyday and it is so great to do that.”
Stricker is currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah (486 points) and is aiming to make his second appearance at the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the first time. The 21-year-old has won two ATP Challenger Tour titles this season.
Tsitsipas suffered a shock first-round exit in New York against Daniel Elahi Galan last year and has now failed to make the second week at the US Open in six attempts. The Greek, who went 1-2 at ATP Masters 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati, struck the ball well against Stricker in the pair’s second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, but committed errors in the key moments off the backhand wing.
Wild card Benjamin Bonzi also scored an upset, defeating home hope Christopher Eubanks 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(7). The Frenchman struck 19 aces to Eubanks’ 15 and held his nerve in critical moments, converting his third match point in the fourth-set tie-break to avoid a decider with the 28th seed. Eubanks will rue committing 58 unforced errors to Bonzi’s 30.
Bonzi and Stricker will clash for the first time on Friday, with the winner earning his maiden fourth-round appearance at a Slam. Bonzi’s furthest run at a major came in January, when he reached the third round at the Australian Open.
In other action Wednesday afternoon, Ben Shelton advanced after illness forced Dominic Thiem to retire at 7-6(1), 1-0. Thiem, who won the US Open in 2020, stepped off court following a highly-entertaining opening set and upon his return, the Austrian was not at his physical best in the opening game of the second set. Thiem then visited with the physio but was unable to continue.
World No. 47 Shelton stayed steady on serve, winning 22 of 30 points behind his hefty first delivery and struck the ball with conviction in front of a jam-packed Louis Armstrong Stadium. A quarter-finalist at this year’s Australian Open, the lefty will next meet Aslan Karatsev for the first time.
