Not even the magic of New York helps: Radio BeO

26 August 2024

Not even the magic of New York helps

Swiss tennis professionals Dominic Stricker and Viktorija Golubic failed in the opening round of the US Open. The Bernese falls low in the ranking, but he is confident.

It was one of the great stories of the last sporting year: young Swiss player Dominic Stricker is well on his way to knocking out top ten star Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round of the Open. SA – and he sings “I Wanna” by Whitney Houston. “Dance with someone”. Twelve months later, this lightheartedness has disappeared for the Bernese, and even a return to New York will not bring back the magic.

The draw actually meant well for Stricker (ATP 169), but he could not take advantage of the opportunity against the Argentinian Francisco Comesaña (ATP 108) – in the truest sense of the word. The 22-year-old Swiss had plenty of chances, but after a strong start he missed almost all the important points and thus lost the match 6:4, 3:6, 6:7 (4:7), 3:6 in just over three hours. He led by breaks in the second and third sets.

After reaching the round of 16 last year, Stricker will now slide in the world ranking to No. 330 or even further. “That’s crazy,” admitted the left-hander. But he really doesn’t care too much. On the one hand, the rating can be explained by the six-month injury break due to chronic back pain at the beginning of the year, and on the other hand, he can still benefit from his defensive rating for five or six tournaments.

“I’m a lot closer than I was a couple of months ago,” Stricker assures. “The only things missing are the details. However, the pressure at important points cannot be imagined. That’s where he’s currently very uncertain, he doesn’t know when to take risks and when to wait. “That’s exactly what I’m missing right now,” Stricker notes.

Only matching practice helps. So, after the Davis Cup in Biel against Peru in two and a half weeks, he will return to the US to play three Challenger tournaments in which his previous ranking still applies. “The level is there, and in the first six months of next year I won’t have any more points to defend,” said Stricker. “I’m sure I’ll be back where I want to be in a few weeks.”

He also enjoyed being in New York. “I arrived with great emotions,” he enthused. “Of course you like coming back to a place like this. With the Italian he won the junior championship at the French Open in 2020.

Viktorija Golubic’s emotional state is completely different when it comes to the US Open. The 31-year-old player from Zurich (WTA 73) was in the main draw for the seventh time and failed in the first round just as often. This time she had no chance against the Spaniard Paula Badosa number 26 with 0:6, 3:6 in 69 minutes.

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