He has the competition of his life behind him. Inexperienced, he stepped onto Wimbledon’s grass courts together with the Norwegian Casper Ruud and won the debut match in the Grand Slam context.
– I was very excited and wanted to deliver in the first match, that was above all what I was thinking about, he says from a bench behind the center court in Båstad.
We have sought refuge in the shade to avoid the oppressive heat. André Göransson comes from Höllviken but has spent the summers in the family’s house on the Bjäre Peninsula. He knows all the nooks and crannies of the tennis stadium in Båstad harbor.
But also at Wimbledon he felt comfortable after a few days.
– It’s weird to say it, but I did not feel it was so special. It is clear that it is a big competition and each match means more to my ranking and such. It’s the competition you want to perform in, but I did not feel mentally that it was anything different.
– Then it was a bit special this year because we were so limited. We were very protected from the public and society.
– André Göransson is training before Båstad’s double tournament.
Photo: Mathilda Ahlberg / Bildbyrån
The Norwegian-Swedish couple went all the way to the quarterfinals where fourth-seeded Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos became too difficult. Afterwards, congratulations poured in.
– We have a large family, many from here in Båstad, who have heard from each other and some childhood friends and such. It is fun to be noticed, says André Göransson who is now ranked 69 in the world in doubles.
It puts him in a whole new situation.
– Being around 80-90 as I did before is a border zone where it was a constant math problem to get into competitions. My ranking plus your ranking, will we enter the competition then? André Göransson explains the way of thinking.
– Now that I’m inside the 70s, I get into all the Grand Slam competitions. It feels good not to have to worry so much.
In Båstad he plays with Danish Frederik Nielsen. It will be Skåne’s fourteenth partner this year.
– It has been quite tough with all partner changes, I have changed almost every week. At the same time I have no support. No one really helps me more than a coach I have in the US who watches every game I play online.
His name is Scott Kintz and André Göransson met him during college in California.
– He is a support, when I feel that I may not be able to play a certain week, he pushes me to drive. And when I doubt myself, he has always been there and made me feel confident in myself again.
It may be needed when André Göransson sits alone in a hotel room in the shadow of the single players on the tour. Because that’s how everyday life often looks like. But the 27-year-old does not regret his decision to bet on double.
– I think it was right even if the loss for the single will probably always be there. Now I no longer have a ranking in singles so there is not much choice right now.
– But I played a league match in Denmark last year, for his club actually, says André Göransson and points to Holger Rune who stands next to him and warms up before his match.
The dream as a child was to one day stand on Båstad’s centercourt. There he has reached, the next step is to lift the trophy.
– It feels in a way like a success in itself just to be second-seeded here, says André Göransson.
– But for the competition itself, I do not feel that seeding means that much. Anything can happen in double.
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