Riedi on an accelerated apprenticeship in New York
Qualifying player Leandro Riedi will play his seventh match at the US Open today since August 19.
Who would have thought it? There were no Swiss players in the men's draw at the US Open. But that was before Jérôme Kym and Leandro Riedi emerged from qualifying and dazzled Flushing Meadows with their talent.
After Kym's third-round elimination on Friday, a resounding 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 defeat by Taylor Fritz (ATP 4), Riedi finds himself squarely in the second week. The 23-year-old from Zurich benefited this weekend from the withdrawal of Kamil Majchrzak (76th). The Pole had torn an intercostal muscle, probably before the match, and had to resign at 5-3 at the end of the first set. "I tried, but the pain was too much," he explained.
So here is "Lele," ranked 435th in the ATP after a year marred by two knee injuries and surgery, in the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows for only the second Grand Slam of his young career, after an appearance at Wimbledon this summer. "It's really special, I'm as happy as a child," the Frauenfeld native said on national television. "I had my problems, but I realized that his were even worse. So I told myself that I just had to grit my teeth."
The game was worth the candle: Riedi is guaranteed a prize of $400,000 and a return to around 160th place in the world – he was 117th in August 2024. It remains to be seen what condition he will be in today to challenge the enduring Australian player Alex De Minaur (8th). "I have pain in my left leg," admitted Riedi, who played six matches in ten days in New York and the first of his life in five sets against Cerundolo. "It's not ideal, but I have to control things. In any case, in a Grand Slam tournament, I will be hospitalized before giving up."
Things aren't getting any better for "Sascha." Eliminated at the start of Wimbledon this summer, the German (ATP 3) was knocked out in the third round of the US Open on Saturday by Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 6-4. He thus became the first player in the world's top 3 to lose twice in a row before the last 16 of a Grand Slam tournament in two decades. At 28, Zverev continues to disappoint, and his summer training sessions with Toni Nadal, "Rafa's" uncle, haven't transformed him.
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