The tennis year 2020 from ... Dominik Koepfer
Dominik Koepfer had a difficult year ahead of him - namely that after his breakthrough to the top of the world. How did the 26-year-old fare?
by Florian Goosmann
last edit:
Dec 07, 2020, 09:52 am
Until the US Open 2019, Dominik Koepfer was only known to tennis insiders: a college player in the USA who had slowly worked his way up. And even before the Wimbledon tournament with the Challenger victory in Ilkley - and the associated wildcard for the most famous of all tournaments - it made people sit up and take notice.
Koepfer then took off at the US Open, won the qualifying round up to the round of 16 and defied a set from the later finalist and man of the hour, Daniil Medvedev.
But how would Koepfer do in the following year , the often difficult one, when suddenly you are no longer the unknown and have points to defend? The answer: strong!
Koepfer marches through Rome - and demands Djokovic
At the US Open this time it was over at the beginning (four set defeat against Taylor Fritz); Koepfer's luck: His points from the previous year were retained, thanks to the corona world ranking regulation in 2020.
Koepfer's run began shortly afterwards, at the tournament in Rome. Again out of the qualification (there already after a victory over Gilles Simon) he won against Alex de Minaur, Gael Monfils and Lorenzo Musetti. And took a sentence from world number one Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals . "The belief is growing slowly that I can keep up with the top people," he said after leaving Rome. Two more victories should follow, in Hamburg and Roland Garros, where he also stole a sentence from Stan Wawrinka.
Koepfer's year 2020 in numbers
Koepfer's record this year: 7 wins in 6 defeats at the ATP or Grand Slam level, a successful Davis Cup debut in February, plus a semi-final at the Challenger tournament in Dallas. And: a career high from 61st place in the ATP ranking in September.