The american dream
Funny how my last blog title was «The Way You Approach It» — writing about how important it is to see the positives and learn the lessons during thougher times. Now, five weeks later, I’m reflecting on a historic success for Leandro and an unforgettable positive experience for myself as a coach. Let’s start in Cincinnati—the beginning of an outstanding run.
Due to his infection and heatstroke in Edwardsville, we stayed there for a few days before we travelled to Cincinnati for the ATP 1000 event. New place, similar struggles: the temperatures reached 35 degrees daily - at times unbearable to be on court. It wasn’t rare that week for players to retire during matches because of the heat. What was new though -literally - was the Cincinnati tournament site. They renovated the place for 6 millions dollars since last year - one of the best sites I have been to.
Despite a good preparation—sharing practice courts with Humbert and Fonseca—Leandro’s body was not at 100% going into the tournament. Nevertheless, his level on court was really high, beating Carreño Busta and Lloyd Harris to qualify for only his second ATP 1000 main draw event. Next Gen star Learner Tien turned out to be too good in the first main-draw round.
The positive was seeing how Leandro found his level on hard court. The less positive was how the 1-to-1 traveling took a bit of a toll on us two. Spending around 12 hours together every day for weeks, going through quite emotionally intense experiences, made it tricky to keep our atmosphere light and fresh on court. Regardless of sitting down to speak openly about it, we were looking forward to having Thiemo on board for the US Open to add fresh energy into the daily work.
Before flying to New York though, Leandro and me went to Kings Island (a huge rollercoaster park next to the site) for some adrenaline and fun. We went with Eva Lys and her family. She had lost with match points the day before, so I think having our minds occupied with whether the next ride should be The Beast or Banshee was good for everyone. For that day, tennis could not have been further away.
We met Thiemo at the JFK and went to our Airbnb in Harlem for the training week prior to the US Open. Harlem is next to the Bronx and not the New York you first imagine. Walking past a guy doing butterfly reps with an elastic band at a traffic light was just another day there.
Since the tennis level was there (as we had seen in Cincinnati), but the energy on court not where we wished it to be, Thiemo focused mainly on that after joining us in the US. Day by day the atmosphere became lighter, and the hours on court more productive. It was such a joy to see how everyone gave their best effort to create this team spirit filled with fun, focus, communication, and motivation.
Eventually it was action time at the last Slam of the year—the US Open. A much different Slam than Wimbledon. More spectacle, more showtime, more noise—the American way. It wasn’t rare to watch a professional match while hearing Elton John nearby through speakers singing about how it’s going to be a long long way as a rocket man. (What a banger.)
Every day for the next 21 days we visited the site and went through the same process repeatedly: warm-up, practice, food, physio, hotel. Some days you could add “match” and “media” to that. During those days people come and go, but the energy really shifts when that second main-draw week begins. More media, more attention, more noise—but fewer players. Suddenly we went from “one of many” to “one of those.”
Also, the matches are then set only on the two biggest courts (Armstrong and Ashe), so the tournament shifts from 17 courts to just two with a minimum capacity of 14,000 spectators each. It felt like joining the big guys on their stage. For us, we tried to keep going with what had worked the past six matches—our internal energy and goals on court. That also meant sometimes going downtown New York, where you were just one of many, to stay grounded and keep things in perspective.
World number 8 Alex de Minaur was too solid for Leandro. His tank was empty, and Alex was simply too good. We tried what we could, and so that US Open journey ended for us—stopped by the “Demon” (Alex’s nickname), who I was told around 100 times I look like.
We could not be prouder of what we achieved together as a team over the past weeks. Obviously the points, the experience, and the prize money are a big plus for Leandro—but mainly, it’s about how we carried ourselves individually to add to that atmosphere that makes it so fun to be on court, whether it’s Louis Armstrong or practice court 17.
Now we go back to Switzerland after a long time, unwind, try to realize what just happened, recover, and then look forward to picking things up where we left off. Before I wrap up, here are a few fun ‘between the lines’ facts from New York:
Did you know the men and women at the US Open play with different types of balls?
Did you know the area of the site is so large that you can get transported to the practice courts by golf cart?
Roughly 9000 rackets are strung during the tournament - thats around 400 per day, 30 per stringer.
Did you know you can barely hear the ball strike on Armstrong or Ashe because it’s so noisy?
This run reminded me that success isn’t just about tennis—it’s about the way you manage the journey and the atmosphere you create. Although I was the coach during these weeks, I felt like a student, learning so many new things from Thiemo and Leandro.
