15 months ago Tennys Sandgren watched Stan Wawrinka win the US Open whilst having beers at a bar after failing to qualify for the tournament. Now he is an Australian Open quarter-finalist.
In what has been the underdog story of the tournament so far, the 26-year-old from Tennessee silence the men’s tour with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-7(7), 6-3, win over fifth seed Dominic Thiem in the fourth round. The world No.97 showed no signs of fear as he blasted 20 aces and 63 winners past the Austrian in a thriller lasting almost four hours. Regrouping after failing to convert a match point in the fourth set.
“I was holding onto my serve, telling myself to stay calm, be calm, don’t burn too much energy on stuff you don’t need. Just focus on what you have to do.” Sandgren said during his post-match press conference.
The triumph has drawn admiration from Thiem, who was seeking a place in the last eight of the tournament for the first time in his career. The 24-year-old currently has eight ATP and seven Challenger titles to his name. A sharp contrast to Sandgren’s tally of zero and three.
“I don’t think I played bad, of course, there are things I could have done better. It was really tough to hit through him, and he didn’t drop his level for almost 4 hours.” Said Thiem.
Thiem is only the second top 10 player that Sangren has defeated in his career. The first occurred last week when he ended Stan Wawrinka’s return to the tour. He is a relatively unknown figure on the main circuit, but that is something he believes plays in his favour.
“Maybe guys aren’t sure what to expect and don’t know how I go about playing points,” he explained.
“I am using that to my advantage and I am just trying to ride the wave.”
This year’s Australian Open is Sangren’s third taste of life in the main draw of a grand slam. Last year he crashed out in the first round at both the French and US Open. There were no signs that the American was capable of going deep in the draw. Historically, he has failed to qualify for a grand slam on 13 occasions and started the year with first round losses in Pune, India and Auckland, New Zealand.
“It’s not about finding belief. I know that I’m good enough to do good things in the game. This is confirmation for me.” He explained.
“It’s like I know that I serve well. I know I can take care of business on my serve. I’ve been working on my mid-court forehand, hitting it well. I’m able to 1-2 a lot of time. If you can hold serve in this game, you can compete with anybody.”
Ironically, until now, Sandgren was best known on the tour of how similar his first name is to tennis. What is even better is when he explains why his parents called him Tennys. He was named after his grandfather, who did not play tennis and did not live in Tennessee.
The world No.97 belongs to a trend of players that are reaching their potential later in their careers. Last year he broke into the top 100 for the first time and played his first ATP World Tour main draw match at the age of 24.
Bigger wins, more scrutiny
As Sandgren continues to make headlines in the world of tennis, so does other areas of his life. On social media some have suggest that he endorses the controversial alt-right movement due to the people he follows on Twitter. Something that he has emphatically denied when asked about by one reporter.
“Who you follow on Twitter I feel doesn’t matter even a little bit. What information you see doesn’t dictate what you think or believe.” He stated.
“To say, well, he’s following X person, so he believes all the things that this person believes, I think it’s ridiculous.”
“I find some of the content interesting. But no, I don’t, not at all. As a firm Christian, I don’t support things like that, no. I support Christ and following Him. That’s what I support.”
In his first major quarterfinal, the American will take on Hyeon Chung. A player who he credits for triggering a resurgence in his game following their clash in Auckland earlier this month. Chung stunned Novak Djokovic in straight sets in his fourth round match.
“I think a big deal was playing Chung in Auckland. I feel like we had a tight contest. I feel like I had to raise my game to even compete with him on the court. I think that helped me a lot going into this week, seeing I could play a good level.” He explained.
Regardless of the outcome of his next match, the 26-year-old is set to break into the top 60 for the first time. It has been a long time coming, but Sandgren is no longer famous for his ironic name. He is famous for his ability. That is an achievement in itself.
