In May, Joao Sousa of Portugal won his home tournament, the Millenium Estoril Open. He immediately got emotional, reflecting on what the victory could mean for his home country.
“Even though I never publicly confessed I had a strong desire to win here, like any other Portuguese player, I’ve always dreamed of winning this title,” he said. “It was a dream week for me. Honestly I’m still in disbelief in what I just achieved. It’s a beautiful page in the story of the Portuguese sport.”
Portugal’s most famous athlete is Cristiano Ronaldo, the superstar soccer phenom. The country of 10 million doesn’t have as much focus on tennis. Big wins at Grand Slams and players climbing the rankings can have a huge ripple effect on attention for the game and youngsters taking up the sport in their home country.
Sousa faces No. 17 Lucas Pouille this afternoon in the US Open third round. A fourth-round berth and beyond could catapult Sousa in the Portuguese sports world — and the game overall.
Here are a few other players who are representing their countries at this year’s US Open and could have an outsized influence on tennis at home.
Kathinka Von Deichmann, Liechtenstein, population 37,000.
Kathinka Von Deichmann represents a country with a population smaller than Opening Day crowds at the US Open. This year, she became the first player from her country to qualify for the Open.
She told USOpen.org: “We are a very small country, but I’m really proud to represent my country, and this I think means everything for everybody in Liechtenstein.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari, Greece, population 10.8 million.
Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari are two of the game’s top players. Both lost their second-round matches at the US Open but both have had excellent years. Sakkari has notched wins over Venus Williams, Naomi Osaka and Karolina Pliskova. Tsitsipas, for his part, took the tennis world by storm with wins over Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson in Toronto last month.
Sakkari told Tennis.com: “We never had two players in the Top 30. It's quite unique for us and for our country. We're all very proud for each other. After what he did in Toronto, for me he was a huge inspiration that I can try to do the same thing.”
Sakkari has called herself a “proud Spartan.”
Victoria Azarenka, Vera Lapko, Aryna Sabalenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Belarus. Population 9.5 million.
Victoria Azarenka, the first Belarusian No. 1 player and two-time US Open finalist, was stopped by American Sloane Stephens in the third round this year. But this has been a banner year for Belarus at the US Open, as Azarenka was joined this year by countrywomen Vera Lapko, Aryna Sabalenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich. This year marked the first time four Belarusian women reached the second round at the Open.
Both Sabalenko and Sasnovich play their first third-round matches at the US Open later today.
Sasnovich told the WTA: “[Home country fans] finally saw tennis in life, and it’s like a popularization ... I want my country to improve even more in tennis, because I think we can have even more from Belarus.”
Timea Babos and Marton Fucsovics, Hungary, population 9.8 million.
Timea Babos and Marton Fucsovics both lost in the first round at the US Open this year, although Babos is still alive in the doubles competition. Earlier this year Babos became the first world No. 1 in Hungary’s history in doubles. Babos and partner Kristina Mladenovic won the Australian Open doubles crown this year.
Former world No. 1 Monica Seles, the legendary American tennis player who has Hungarian roots, told the WTA that Babos’ success has been huge for the sport there. "I hope the crowds can keep coming here to support her even more and make tennis very popular here so the tournament can keep growing,” Seles said.
