Quarter-finals in Stuttgart, hope for Wimbledon

Dominic Stricker (18) defeats a player from the top 20 of the world rankings for the first time at the lawn tournament in Stuttgart with the Pole Hubert Hurkacz (24) and is already in the quarter-finals.

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In autumn he triumphed in the junior competition of the French Open, in March he won his first professional tournament in Lugano, in May he reached his ATP debut in Geneva after victories against the Grand Slam winners Marin Cilic and Marton Fucsovics the quarter-finals and now Dominic Stricker is again in the quarter-finals on his lawn debut in Stuttgart. With Hubert Hurkacz (24, ATP 20) from Poland, he not only defeated number two on the seeding list, but also for the first time a player from the top 20 in the world rankings: 7: 6 (7: 5), 7: 6 (7: 5) was the verdict. The only 18-year-old from Bern made up a break deficit in the second set against the winner of the Masters tournament in Miami and a 0-3 deficit in the tie-break.

Stricker’s serenity is particularly impressive. He has now contested five tiebreaks on the ATP tour – and won all of them. He says: “Difficult to say why this is so. But I certainly have nothing to lose and can play freely, that helps. My opponents, however, feel the pressure. ” Although he defeated the former number 3 in the world with Marin Cilic in Geneva, who won the US Open in 2014 and was also in the finals at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, Stricker describes the success against Hurkacz, the Miami winner of that year, as the most important Victory of his career. He says: “I’ll never forget that. He’s an incredible player. I haven’t really realized what happened yet. “

Next hurdle: Lawn specialist Sam Querrey

Stricker’s opponent in the quarter-finals is Sam Querrey (33, ATP 67). The 1.98 meter tall American was once number 11 in the world. In 2016 Querrey eliminated defending champion Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, and reached the semifinals the following year. Stricker says: “Let’s see if I can manage to relieve him of the serve.” For him, the ATP tour is still a new experience. “I am still enjoying it very much and I am happy that it is going so well,” says Stricker, who could now run into deadlines. Because he received a wildcard for qualifying at the ATP tournament in Halle next week. Qualification starts on Saturday. Then the semi-finals will be played in Stuttgart.

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Roger Federer, with whom Stricker has already trained several times, will also compete in Halle, but never on grass. “I’m looking forward to being able to take him on the pitch in Halle. I’m curious to see how he plays on grass. ”

Stricker exploit on grass also comes as a surprise because for the first time in two years and the Wimbledon junior tournament, he is playing a tournament on this pad. Last year, the lawn season fell victim to the corona pandemic. Stricker had prepared in Biel with his double partner Marc-Andrea Hüsler. During the summer months, the Champagne tennis club operates the only freely accessible grass pitches in Switzerland on the Gurzelenwiese, which used to be the home ground of FC Biel. Perhaps the lawn season for Stricker will continue after Halle and the young Bernese will make his Grand Slam debut in June. He says: «Wimbledon is still under discussion. It is not yet certain whether I can play there. “

Hope for Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon

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Stricker’s rise to the top of the world continues unstoppably. With his win in the first lap, he even surpassed Roger Federer. He was 18 years and 10 months old when he won his first victory on grass in 2000 in Halle – and thus a month older than the Bernese who also became the youngest Swiss quarter-finalist in an ATP tournament since Federer 2000 in Copenhagen in Geneva. At the beginning of the year, Stricker was still in 1168th place in the world rankings, now he is already in the top 300 – in the region around position 289. If he reaches the semi-finals in Stuttgart, the left-hander could qualify at the US Open. The prerequisite for this is a placement in the top 250 of the world rankings.

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