World No. 100 Tennys Sandgren equaled his best Grand Slam showing at the year's first major, reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open with a four-set win over No. 12 seed Fabio Fognini on Sunday. Next up for the 28-year-old from Tennessee—a final-eight battle with 20-time Grand Slam champion and six-time Australian Open men's winner Roger Federer.
Sandgren, the only unseeded player left in the men's draw, started off his Melbourne campaign with a straight-sets victory over Marco Trungelliti of Argentina. He upset No. 8-seeded Matteo Berrettini of Italy, 7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 7-5, in the second round and then won an all-American third-round battle against Sam Querrey, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, before defeating Fognini in nearly three-and-a-half hours in their Round-of-16 match.
Here's more on the Tennessee native, who has reached the third round or better in the last three Slams.
The Tennys Sandgren File
Age: 28
Birthplace: Gallatin, Tenn.
Current Rank: 100
Career-High Rank: 41 (Jan. 14, 2019)
Best US Open Finish: Third Round (2019)
The Baseline
- In addition to this year, Sandgren also reached the quarterfinals Down Under in 2018. He holds a 5-2 record against Top-10 opponents at Grand Slam tournaments, with wins over Fognini (2019 Wimbledon, 2020 Australian Open), Berrettini (2020 Australian Open), Dominik Thiem (2018 Australian Open) and Stan Wawrinka (2018 Australian Open).
- Sandgren is earning a reputation as a big-match player, having reached the third round or better at the last three majors, including the fourth round of Wimbledon last July and the third round of the US Open last September.
- The Tennessee native took home the first ATP Tour title of his career in Auckland, New Zealand, last year, defeating Britain's Cameron Norrie in the final. He didn't drop a set during the tournament.
- Sandgren, who turned professional in 2011 after competing at the University of Tennessee for two years, broke into the world's Top 100 for the first time in June 2017, just one month shy of his 26th birthday.
- Sandgren is known as one of the fittest players on tour, and, after putting in some hard work during the off-season, arrived in Australia stronger and faster than ever before.
They Said It!
“I haven't had that many looks or wasn't supposed to. The fact that I am [in the quarterfinals], I get amped up. I want to perform. I want to do well. I don't want to take the time on the court for granted. Getting to play in a big stadium, in front of a lot of people—because I've played a lot of tennis in front of very few people—the fact I get to do that seems to bring out the best tennis in me.” — Tennys Sandgren
