Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Little has happened easily for Dane Sweeny in his until-now off-Broadway tennis career, so he was due some good fortune – and it is coming in spades at this US Open.
The 170-centimetre Australian battler – ranked 123 in the world – is celebrating his maiden top-20 victory, taking down Italy’s dual grand slam semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in a titanic upset to reach the third round for the first time.
Musetti spent most of the final three sets physically struggling, hunched over in the corner of the court and generally looking under the weather. He took an off-court medical timeout after going 3-0 down in the third set, and showed the odd sign of life, but Sweeny never let up.
Sweeny’s only previous match against this calibre of opponent was a straight-sets defeat to American star Ben Shelton in the second round at this year’s Australian Open.
He is now guaranteed a payday of more than $400,000, and is provisionally at a career-high live ranking of No.109 ahead of another on-court date with a seeded Italian, Luciano Darderi.
“I’m so grateful to be able to even compete in grand slams,” Sweeny said.
“I put a lot of work in. The tennis journey is such a rollercoaster, and I’m so incredibly grateful to play in front of an awesome crowd and to soak up this moment. To win, and to get a couple of wins, is awesome.”
This milestone moment comes barely two years since Sweeny took a multi-month break from the sport after suffering through a form slump, just as he felt close to finally breaking through into elite company.
“That’s the beautiful thing about pursuing something so hard like tennis,” he said.
“Tennis can change on the flip of a coin. You’ve just got to keep persevering, and that’s what I did. I wasn’t getting results for a long while, but there’s a law of probability. I knew it was somehow going to swing in my favour if I just kept going, and I did.
“Now I’m here, and it’s the best decision I ever made to come back after that two months.”
Meanwhile, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced on Friday morning that Nick Kyrgios had accepted a one-month suspension for out-of-competition use of cocaine.
Kyrgios apologised to his family, friend and fans last month for making a “huge mistake” when his provisional ban was revealed.
Former doubles partner Stefanos Tsitsipas, who Kyrgios has feuded with, said after his first-round US Open victory that the news did not surprise him and that he was aware of the situation.
For a while, a second Australian underdog seemed poised to upset a highly ranked Italian as qualifier Tristan Schoolkate snatched the first set from Roland-Garros finalist Flavio Cobolli, only to go down 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 to the No.5 seed.
Schoolkate took a set from world No.1 Jannik Sinner at last year’s Australian Open, so this sort of moment is not foreign to him.
A dispirited Alexei Popyrin has also exited the US Open, losing 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 to 25th-seeded Chilean left-hander Alejandro Tabilo after a bright start.
The Musetti result was the continuation of some overdue luck for Sweeny, who has mostly made his living in the tennis wilderness.
Sweeny was supposed to contest US Open qualifying, but several player withdrawals enabled his countryman Popyrin to make the main draw cut-off on his ranking, and transferred Tennis Australia’s reciprocal wildcard with the United States Tennis Association to him.
The 25-year-old parlayed his wildcard into his first grand slam win outside Melbourne Park when Frenchman Corentin Moutet retired with an arm injury while trailing 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 3-0.
There are few greater contrasts of a have and have-not on a tennis court than Musetti and Sweeny.
The stylish Musetti was dressed head-to-toe in sponsored Asics gear, whereas the mustachioed Sweeny wore a plain white shirt and red cap to shade him from the harsh and humid New York heat. The war wounds on Sweeny’s elbows and knees were evidence of his scrappy style, too.
Everything changed after a relatively routine opening set, albeit one Sweeny still had chances in.
Musetti began looking off-colour during the second set, which he lost in lopsided fashion, and never fully recovered despite glimpses of his usual spectacular shot-making.
Like the second set, Musetti quickly handed over a pair of breaks in the third.
He twice recovered a break, only to hand it straight back to Sweeny, whose relentless hitting and scampering never wavered. The fourth set took a similar path as Musetti gifted an immediate break of serve that left him playing catch up again.
Sixth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur is up next for his second-round clash with Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.
Watch the US Open live on 9GO!, 9NOW and Stan Sport.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
