#NextGenATP Ymer Thriving On Home Soil In Bastad

Sweden is hungry for another rising star to crack the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, and #NextGenATP player Mikael Ymer is showing that he has the tools to achieve this with his run this week at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Bastad.

The 18 year old delighted the home crowd on Thursday with a 6-2, 6-4 win over second seed Renzo Olivo of Argentina to reach his first Challenger semi-final of the year. Ymer passed through the qualifying rounds in just one of the six Challenger events he’s played this season, but made full use of a wild card to produce an inspired run.

“It feels great. I haven’t had the best Challenger year, so I’ve been trying to find my game and now it’s paying off,” said Ymer. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but I think I can achieve very good stuff.

“Maybe it’s that I have the support of the crowd, but it’s a nice feeling playing at home,” he added. “You know all the restaurants and that the food is good, we’re staying in a house, my family and friends are here. It’s just a very comfortable feeling.”

Ymer has already dealt with serious injuries in his young career. He was sidelined for nine months with a hip injury before returning to the court this past August. He reached the semi-finals of his second tournament back at the Challenger in Rome, then dropped just three games against Fernando Verdasco this past October for his first ATP World Tour main draw win in Stockholm. He also teamed up with his brother, Elias Ymer, to take the doubles title at that event.

The teenager admitted that the expectations from his performance in Stockholm got into his head, but that he’s finally been able to block them out.

“Because I did well very early in my comeback last year, people were expecting me to do the same thing this time,” he said. “I’ve been able to put that pressure away the past couple of weeks, though, and just play for myself, not anyone else.”

Currently No. 398 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Ymer will move to a new career-high ranking when the newest standings are released on Monday. The Swede is aiming to crack the Top 300 as soon as possible and continue climbing from there.

“I still haven’t been able to compete as much as I’d like and am not in my peak shape, but am playing a bit better with each match. It’s very tough out there and there are a lot of good players. That was the main difference coming from the juniors to Challengers. You need to be ready to compete in every match,” said Ymer. “When you’re away for a long time, it takes a few weeks to get used to competing at this level again. I think I’m in a good rhythm now, though.”