Chinese tennis star Wu Yibing on his journey to ATP Tour
Carlos Alcaraz’ first opponent at the US Open has played down the daunting prospect of facing the world No 1 by pointing out that he has competed against the sport’s very best players before and taken sets off them.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Alcaraz has been drawn against German Dominik Koepfer in the first round, but the world No 75 appears to be in no mood to make life easy for the top-ranked player in world tennis.
And the 29-year-old was only too happy to remind atptour.com that he has previously come up against all-time greats Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic and described the tournament’s top seed as just another player “like all the others”.
Koepfer said: “He is not perfect, maybe a little faster than normal only, but he also makes mistakes, he is a tennis player like all the others. I know that part of the difficulty of winning against this type of player lies in managing your nerves because their mere presence makes you play more eager.
“I’ve already faced guys like Roger and Novak, and I was able to win a few sets from them. I feel like all my work is paying off, in just one year I’ve climbed many positions in the ranking and I feel confident.
“I’m going to go out on track to give the best of myself and have fun because I have nothing to lose. I’m very excited to face Carlitos.”
Much like Chris Eubanks, who excelled at Wimbledon this year, Koepfer was late in making an impact on the international tennis circuit but has grafted out a successful career for himself.
The left-hander made it to the fourth round of the US Open in 2019 and the third round of both the French Open and Wimbledon in 2021 but succumbed to a mysterious injury to his playing arm towards the end of that year.
Speaking about the problem, he said: “It was very frustrating because some told me that I had a bruise on my humerus, others attributed it to nerves and a lack of stability in my shoulder. The truth is that nobody knew what I had and when that happens, I don’t think there is treatment. I did what I could.
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“It didn’t bother me hitting the drive and backhand, but the serve was torture. Every tournament I went to, I asked to see the doctor to see if he was able to decipher what was happening to me.”
Koepfer continued playing without any medication and saw his ranking plummet. After a few months off, he returned to action in early 2023 and won the ATP Challenger in Mexico City, before reaching the final in San Luis Potosi a week later.
Now up to World No 75, Koepfer hopes that his injury worries are now behind him and is focusing on causing a major upset at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday.
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