Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Dane Sweeny’s unlikely US Open run as the last Australian standing is over.
The 25-year-old wildcard from the Sunshine Coast had never won a grand slam match before this year’s Australian Open, and backed that up by venturing into the third round in a career-best effort in New York this week.
Sweeny upset Italy’s world No.14 Lorenzo Musetti to make it this far – but a second straight seeded Italian proved too much as Luciano Darderi eliminated the Australian 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and 13 minutes.
Sweeny’s second-round victory over Musetti was not only his maiden top-20 scalp, but also his first against a top-50 opponent at just his fourth attempt, guaranteeing him life-changing prizemoney of more than $400,000.
This is all still very new for the 123rd-ranked Australian, who remains without an apparel sponsor, and the reward for his pair of US Open wins will be a career-high ranking of No.109 once the tournament ends.
Sweeny has about three months to make his top-100 debut in time to earn direct acceptance into next year’s Australian Open, but he would be a certain wildcard recipient if not.
On this occasion, he scored Tennis Australia’s reciprocal wildcard with the United States Tennis Association after a series of withdrawals enabled Alexei Popyrin to sneak into the draw. Sweeny made the most of his fortune, starting with an upset of eccentric Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the first round.
It was tough going from the outset against 22nd-ranked Darderi.
Sweeny handed an early advantage to the barrel-chested Italian with a loose third game on serve, including a missed volley and double fault before his jumping backhand drive volley thudded into the net.
He almost slipped two breaks behind, but escaped that peril, then turned the screws on Darderi, who staved off a break-back point with some excellent serving. The 21st seed was also 15-30 in his next service game, as Sweeny began to settle into the contest, but he did enough to secure the opening set.
Sweeny’s approach was obvious from the outset: take the ball early, be aggressive, defend like his life depended on it, and finish points at the net where possible.
His aggressive counter-punching meant he had to cop an inflated number of unforced errors – some of them missed by a fair way – but he was happy to pay that price to give himself a chance.
But after a competitive first set, Sweeny dug himself a hole with consecutive errors from 30-30 to immediately concede a break in the second.
The 25-year-old Australian could have fallen away but instead grabbed the break straight back, starting with a terrific chase-down followed by an angled backhand winner to the opposite service box.
Darderi was incensed and picked up an audible obscenity warning, which angered him more. Sweeny continued to fight as Darderi argued with the chair umpire for the next few minutes about his warning.
Unsurprisingly, at Sweeny’s height, he doesn’t get many cheap points on serve, particularly against an opponent with Darderi’s power. That led to him being in lots of pressure moments while serving, and back-to-back misses from 30-all proved his undoing as he fell 3-2 behind.
The key moment came in the next game, on another 30-all point, as Sweeny tried to draw level again.
Darderi survived a riveting 33-shot rally with an inside-out forehand blast that finally broke through the Australian’s defences.
He double-faulted afterwards but won the next two points to go 4-2 up, then broke Sweeny again a few games later to go two sets up.
Sweeny refused to quit – that is not in his DNA – and earned a break point in the opening game of the third set. A frenzied volley exchange followed between the players, which Darderi won despite Sweeny launching himself at the shot that beat him.
This one hurt him, and he spent the next few minutes nursing a sore right elbow.
Anyone who watches enough of Sweeny knows he is not afraid to dive across the court to stay in points; he typically plays with scabs on his arms and legs from doing so.
Darderi again escaped, then broke Sweeny with a superb backhand lob winner to go 2-0 up.
That could have, not for the first time, broken Sweeny’s spirit. Instead, he figuratively rolled up his sleeves and kept fighting. Darderi shanked an overhead at the net to gift Sweeny a third break-back point, then ballooned a backhand long to breathe life into the Australian battler’s cause.
But it was always difficult for Sweeny to hold serve.
He won barely half the points on his first serve for the match, which was never going to be a winning formula against Darderi, one of six Italians ranked in the top 50.
Sweeny dropped serve for a sixth time to go 3-1 down, and his gallant New York run soon came to a close.
Coco Gauff, the 2024 winner, advanced to the fourth round on Sunday (AEST) as she continues to spearhead the host nation’s title hopes, but fellow Americans Taylor Fritz, Amanda Anisimova and Madison Keys were all shock losers.
Roland-Garros runner-up Flavio Cobolli also exited the US Open early, losing 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 to Belgian rising star Alexander Blockx.
But grand slam champions Iga Swiatek and Mirra Andreeva dodged the carnage to move into the last 16.
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