Dominic Stricker began the main draw of this year’s US Open at No. 128 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, one spot lower than he was 12 months ago. However, the Swiss is far from the same player.

“I feel better on court than I did last year. I feel like my game has improved again,” Stricker told ATPTour.com. “I’m also getting fitter body-wise, so that helps for sure. And now I hope the ranking is going to increase as well. But I think if I keep on doing my things like I’m doing right now, it’s going to go higher pretty soon.”

Stricker on Wednesday will have an opportunity to reach the third round of a major for the first time when he faces seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. It is a big chance for a player who needed to save match point in the second round of qualifying against Pablo Llamas Ruiz. The match put him in one of the craziest predicaments a tennis player could confront.

Facing match point at 8/9 in the final-set tie-break, Stricker got out of trouble with a big serve and walked towards his chair as he prepared to change sides of the court. Then it began to rain, sending the players off court.

“We tried to not talk about the match at all, just to be relaxed. We played some games just to not think about it too much,” Stricker said. “But of course, you’re thinking about where to serve, what to do on the next point and everything. So you actually keep on playing the match during the whole time you don’t spend on court.

“We played Yahtzee. It’s pretty funny, because I don’t know when we started it, but we are playing it so many times in a day. It’s actually crazy.”

Upon the match’s resumption, Stricker did not face another match point and rode his serve to victory. The lefty then cruised past Thiago Agustin Tirante to qualify and defeated Alexei Popyrin in the first round of the main draw, a feat he also achieved at Wimbledon.

“Super happy today. I played a great match, great first two sets. Maybe I lost it a bit at the end of the third, but I came back strong in the fourth,” Stricker said. “So just super happy to be through.”

A semi-finalist at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, the 21-year-old Swiss had not competed in a main draw before this season. But he is quickly gaining experience on the sport’s biggest stages and performing well in the process. Why?

“I think off court everything got a bit more serious. I’m also working maybe a little bit harder than I did before,” Stricker said. “I think everything is more professional than it was and that helps me for sure.”

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^{Stricker competed at the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals.}
That is something that his new coach since April, Dieter Kindlmann, agreed with. Kindlmann, the former World No. 130 who has coached WTA stars Maria Sharapova, Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka among others, has focussed on improving the Swiss’ daily habits.

“I’ve worked with very high-profile women before, and I see a big talent in him. But I also see so many things that we have to work on. It’s not only on the court, it’s also outside, what it means to be professional, what it means to be a Top 100, Top 80, Top 50 player,” Kindlmann said. “I think step by step he has to learn what it means to be working in the gym, working with the physio, doing prevention, getting more in details, working on a structure, planning the whole year.

“I thought from my first conversation he was a great guy. He’s funny, he’s a very good character, a very nice guy. But he’s also a little bit goofy and likes to play. But he has to understand, this is what I try to teach him, what it means to be a professional player every day.”

An example Kindlmann cited to explain his point was Stricker’s warmup routine before a match. Sometimes he did not grip his racquets or prepare his bottles. He would do a short, rushed physical warmup.

“For me I believe very much in doing everything with routine, but also not losing his way of gamestyle. Not make everything too serious, but bring more structure in trusting his body, getting fitter, believing you can beat these guys,” Kindlmann said. “This is my job, what I try to teach and I’m actually very, very happy when I saw him today.”

Diet is an area upon which Stricker has placed increased emphasis.

“You’re looking a bit more at what you’re eating. It depends maybe the night before the match what you’re going to eat after the match and all that stuff, just to get that energy back,” Stricker said. “I think that’s one of the things that changed a lot.”

In the past, he might have eaten some cookies or chocolate. Now, not so much.

“Of course, sometimes you need it. It’s human,” Stricker said. “Maybe sometimes you need a Coke or anything like that. You don’t take it every day. I will say let’s take more sparkling water and that stuff.”

Stricker’s next opponent, Tsitsipas, remembers playing the Swiss on grass in Stuttgart last year. The Greek won in straight sets, but recognised his opponent’s skill.

“He’s a talented kid. He has talent,” Tsitsipas said. “He can feel the ball. He can do a lot of things with the ball.”

Stricker will try to show the world just that when he plays Tsitsipas again for a place in the third round of the US Open.

“I’m super happy. It’s great to play him again,” Stricker said. “It’s just just a great opportunity for me to show my tennis, to enjoy that match because it’s going to be a great match.”

Bernabe Zapata Miralles never cracked the Top 150 in the ITF Junior Rankings. The Spaniard played just one major as a junior, the 2015 US Open.

“I lost in the second round against Tsitsipas I remember,” Zapata Miralles told ATPTour.com. “I won the first round, but I played so nervous.”

Some of his lasting memories from the tournament were practice sessions with his countrymen, including Feliciano Lopez and Gullermo Garcia-Lopez. Zapata Miralles remembers fondly watching Garcia-Lopez play Tomas Berdych in the third round.

The junior players at the season’s final major use a locker room in an indoor building across the venue from Arthur Ashe Stadium. But Zapata Miralles remembers getting a chance to step into the pro’s locker room once. There, one of the competitors he saw was Novak Djokovic.

The Spaniard has never practised with the Serbian nor faced him in a match. But on Wednesday, that will change when Zapata Miralles takes on the 23-time major champion.

“I think I need to stay relaxed. I don’t have nothing to lose if I play against Novak, of course,” Zapata Miralles said. “I try to be focussed in the match and try to do my best to have some chances. But I don’t feel too nervous.

“For me it’s another match, one match more in my tennis career, and this is the important thing.”

But he has never faced an opponent with the experience of Djokovic, who has finished as ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone a record seven times. The Spaniard has plenty of respect for the three-time US Open winner.

“I think he’s a machine,” Zapata Miralles said. “For me he’s an unbelievable player, one of the best in history.”

The good news for Zapata Miralles is he has played a lot of top players this season — five Top 10 opponents, to be exact. He pushed Daniil Medvedev to a third set in Rome and Andrey Rublev to a final-set tie-break in Hamburg. However, Zapata Miralles has never defeated a Top 10 player.

“I played good matches this year on clay. I think the match if I play against Novak is different because it’s on hard and normally I always feel more comfortable on clay,” Zapata Miralles said. “I played good matches against Rublev in Hamburg and Daniil in Rome. But I think [it will be a] different match on Wednesday.”

Zapata Miralles defeated reigning NCAA men’s singles champion Ethan Quinn in straight sets Tuesday for his first tour-level win on hard courts this season (6-16 career). Twenty-seven of his 33 tour-level victories have come on clay.

“It’s a different surface, so it’s more complicated for me, I think,” Zapata Miralles said. “But I will try to find this level that I played in these matches.”

For a clay-court standout who climbed to a career-high No. 37 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings this year based on his success on that surface, Zapata Miralles calls the US Open his favourite tournament.

“Probably [because I love] the city. I love New York. I feel very comfortable in Manhattan,” Zapata Miralles said. “When I have time, I like to walk there and go to dinner in some restaurants… I feel like I’m home here.”

Zapata Miralles will hope that is the case inside Arthur Ashe Stadium Wednesday when he plays Djokovic.

US Open top seed Carlos Alcaraz had an unexpectedly early night inside Arthur Ashe Stadium Tuesday when opponent Dominik Koepfer retired with the Spaniard leading 6-2, 3-2 after 60 minutes. 

The German World No. 75 suffered a freak ankle injury just six points into the match when he rolled his left ankle while moving backwards as an Alcaraz stroke sailed over the baseline.

The 29-year-old received treatment at deuce in the first game and battled until midway through the second set, when eventually the pain and risk of further injury became too much to bear.

“It’s obviously not the best way to get through to the next round,” said Alcaraz, who debuted an artistic sleeveless match shirt. “It’s very unfortunate for him but I was feeling really good on court. It’s a court I love playing in. I felt the same energy I felt last year.”

Alcaraz, who will next meet South African Lloyd Harris, is attempting to become the first player to successfully defend the men’s US Open title since Roger Federer won five straight between 2004-08.

Because he is dropping 2000 points as the defending champion, regardless of results Alcaraz will surrender World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on 12 September to Novak Djokovic, who has no points to defend because he did not play the event last year.

Dominik Koepfer receives treatment in the first game from ATP physio Per Bastholt.” />

Alcaraz is seeded to meet Italian Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals in what would be a rematch of their five-hour Flushing Meadows epic last year, in which the Italian held a match point.

Earlier on Tuesday night Sinner dropped just five games in a commanding 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 win over German Yannick Hanfmann. Looking to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, Sinner won 50 per cent of return points and claimed six service breaks.

“I was playing good, I was returning good,” Sinner said. “Sometimes the serve could be a little bit better. But the atmosphere is obviously very nice. I know physically I’m healthy, which is most important.”

Sinner next faces countryman Lorenzo Sonego, having beaten the World No. 39 in their two career Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings this year in Halle and Montpellier.

Former US Open champion Andy Murray earned his 200th major win on Tuesday, when he overcame Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round in New York.

The Scot coped with Moutet’s flamboyant shotmaking throughout the two-hour, 58-minute clash, combating the Frenchman’s touch with consistent depth to advance to the second round for the 16th time. The 36-year-old also moved forward frequently, winning 69 per cent (48/70) of net points.

“It was amazing. A brilliant atmosphere against one of the most skilful players on Tour,” Murray said. “He has so many ways to disrupt you, he is an exceptional player and he moves extremely well and always causes a bit of chaos. I hope it was entertaining for everyone. There were some fun points in there. I am happy to get through in straight sets because the second set was very tight.”

Murray, who defeated Novak Djokovic to triumph at the hard-court Slam in 2012, is just the ninth man in history to earn 200 match wins at the majors. He will aim to make it 201 when he faces Grigor Dimitrov. The Bulgarian saved three match points to edge Alex Molcan 6-7(9), 6-7(5), 6-1, 7-5, 7-6(11-9) in four hours and 40 minutes.

All-time Grand Slam Men’s Singles Win Leaders

Murray has lifted the trophy at Wimbledon twice (2013, ’16) and he is a five-time finalist at the Australian Open (2010, ’11, ’13, ’15, ’16). He also advanced to the championship match at Roland Garros in 2016.

The 36-year-old saved two set points in the second set against Moutet, rallying from 3-5 to gain further control. He then earned the decisive break of the third set in the eighth game, converting on his 10th opportunity of the set. Murray then held serve, advancing on his fourth match point.

“The preparation was slightly tricky because I had to pull out of the tournament mid-way through in Canada and miss Cincinnati,” said Murray, who suffered an ab strain in Toronto. “I had to slowly build my serving up but I was quite happy with how I served today, the ab felt good.”

Murray will next face Dimitrov, who rallied from two sets down against Molcan to reach the second round in New York for the fourth consecutive year. The 32-year-old, who trails Murray 3-8 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, struck 81 winners against Slovakian Molcan.

Briton Cameron Norrie also reached the second round, defeating Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 32 minutes.

“I was pretty nervous going into the tournament,” said Norrie, who suffered opening-round exits in his past three events. “I have had a couple of tough loses recently, so the confidence was not where I wanted it to be. Coming in I would usually have had a lot of matches under my belt and I wanted to start well. I had a really positive week in practice. My team has been really good in these tough times, so it is nice to get a comfortable win.”

The 16th seed is making his seventh appearance in New York, where he enjoyed a run to the fourth round last year. Lefty Norrie is currently 15th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (1,815 points) and will need a deep run at the hard-court major to boost his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals.

The 28-year-old, who has won three tour-level titles on hard courts, will next play Yu Hsiou Hsu.

Jack Draper reached the third round at the US Open on debut last year and made a fast start again this week, overcoming Radu Albot 6-1, 6-4, 6-3.

The 21-year-old saved all three break points he faced to seal his win after two hours and five minutes. Briton Draper will meet Marc-Andrea Huesler or Hubert Hurkacz in the second round.

Daniel Evans rounded out a good day for the Brits when he won 21 of 29 net approaches in a 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 win over Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan, who last year knocked out Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round. Evans next faces a first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.

#NextGenATP Frenchman Arthur Fils advanced on his US Open debut Tuesday, clawing past 24th seed Tallon Griekspoor in a five-set thriller to reach the second round.

The 19-year-old battled hard throughout the three-hour, 58-minute match, striking 61 winners to advance 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5. Fils will next face Italian Matteo Arnaldi, who competed at the Next Gen ATP Finals in 2022.

Fils has enjoyed a breakthrough season on the ATP Tour, winning his first title at this level on home soil in Lyon in May. The Frenchman is currently fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah (953 points) and is aiming to make his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the first time.

The 19-year-old will be joined in the second round by fellow #NextGenATP star Alex Michelsen. The American wild card captured a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win against Spaniard Albert-Ramos Vinolas on his major debut.

Michelsen is seventh in the Live Race To Jeddah (492 points) after a standout few months on Tour. The 19-year-old advanced to his maiden tour-level final in Newport in July and reached the third round in Winston-Salem last week.

Aiming to compete at the 21-and-under event for the first time, Michelsen will look to earn more wins in New York to boost his chances. He will next play 23rd seed Nicolas Jarry after the Chilean defeated #NextGenATP Frenchman Luca Van Assche 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(3).

‘Triple Z’ was well on his way to triple heartbreak.

Zhang Zhizhen led home favourite J.J. Wolf two sets to love and 3-0 in the third set on Monday at the US Open and later in the set served for the match. Suddenly, the Chinese star found himself in a deciding set at the season’s final major.

It was eerily similar to two other matches he has played in the past year. In the first round of the 2022 US Open, Zhang let slip seven match points against Tim van Rijthoven. In the opening round of this year’s Australian Open, he was unable to convert a match point against Ben Shelton, who eventually reached the quarter-finals.

“Those tough matches, when you lose, there are actually so many things you can learn and so many things you can improve, which just makes you stronger,” Zhang told ATPTour.com. “That’s first, because from my mental [side], some people say I have a weak mental side. But I think I’m a tough guy, strong guy, because all the time I lost those tough matches, and it still couldn’t break me.

“So it is a good thing and then you go the next step and just go looking for the next match and then you improve. Especially when you lose those [matches], you know how to deal with it.”

Zhang, who also lost a five-setter at Wimbledon this year to Botic van de Zandschulp, would not be denied again. Despite letting slip a big lead against Wolf, he held his nerve for a 7-5, 7-5, 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-3 victory.

“It was a little bit of a different experience of five sets, and also a little bit of a different result,” Zhang said. “In the third set there were chances, but not many because he was playing super great in the third set… This third set was a joke. It has not happened many times in my life, I think in his life also.

“The fifth set, it was tough to hold, especially the first game was 0/40. I’m super happy that I didn’t give up in that moment.”

It would have been normal for Zhang to think back to the big leads he has been unable to capitalise on. Instead of dwelling, he went to the toilet to change his clothes and returned to the court refreshed.

“I was saying, ‘Okay, this year to beat me three sets straight, that’s tough,’” Zhang recalled. “I was thinking like this. I was believing myself. Three sets, at least I can win one set. I was pretty confident, actually.”

The 26-year-old added: “I didn’t think any of last year about those sh** things. Sh** happens to me. But just like when I lost the third set I said, ‘Okay, today’s again tough, it’s not an easy match. I have to go.’”

At last year’s US Open, Zhang was No. 137 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and no Chinese man had ever cracked the world’s Top 100. Despite his disappointing exit at Flushing Meadows, Zhang made history by reaching that milestone in October.

After another setback in Australia against Shelton, Zhang could have fallen into a funk. But instead, he showed his resilience and has enjoyed the best season of his career, climbing to a career-high No. 52 in July.

“Those matches when you lose, many times there’s one or two points’ difference, so it’s a lot of things on the important points and how you decide how to hit the ball and how to be prepared for those points,” Zhang said. “You don’t rush too much and then you don’t go too safe. So you have to find a balance. This you need to learn from the matches.

“From the practice, you will never find the solution because in practice you play points, but you cannot really get the pressure in that moment. Once you play the match, you play more matches, and then you know how the pressure is in that moment, and then how to play the points.”

No panic. No capitulation. Only resilience. That is what Zhang showed against Wolf. In doing so, the 26-year-old proved just how far he has come.

“This year and last year are different. Maybe I am just a little bit more experienced and more mature, more calm during a match. Maybe,” Zhang said. “I know when I get nervous, but maybe I know how to release the problem, to get out of the way, just to figure out the problem.”

Zhang will try to do so again in the second round when he plays fifth seed Casper Ruud.