A qualifying wildcard now ranked No. 431, Martin Damm won his first career main-draw Grand Slam singles match on Monday at the US Open, a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over compatriot Darwin Blanch. Into the second round, he’ll next face another American, a familiar opponent in No. 17 seed Frances Tiafoe. The two were briefly academy mates at the USTA National Training Center in Boca Raton, Fla.
“It’s something that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” said Damm. “He’s an exciting player. They love him here in New York. He’s had tremendous success, and is someone I’ve looked up to since I was 12 years old. I talked to him in the locker room the other day, and we were telling stories about when I was 12 and he was 18, 19, back in the dorms in Boca. He’s had tremendous success. It’ll be an amazing challenge for me.”
Ahead of their meet-up, check out a few fast facts about the former top junior standout:
A long road to recovery
Damm never thought his tennis career would take him to the far reaches of Egypt.
But that’s where the 21-year-old lefthander found himself in February, in the city of Sharm El Sheikh, on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. An ankle injury had kept him away from the court for the better part of three months. As a result, his ranking had plummeted from a career-high No. 175 to No. 467. He needed some matches, in a big way, especially on the hard courts.
That’s how Damm ended up playing back-to-back, low-level $15,000 Futures events along the Red Sea.
“It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t easy,” said Damm. “The first five months of last year was the best tennis of my life. I was experiencing a lot of firsts. The next thing you know, I can’t walk to the bathroom because of my injury. I had to kind of put my ego aside, my past aside, and just put my head down and realize the situation I was in.”
Damm initially tore two ligaments in his left ankle. Then, rushing his return, he suffered a stress fracture, which landed him in a boot for 11 weeks. The Egypt trip proved a fruitful one, with a title and a final providing a much-needed confidence boost.
“The whole plan was just to get in as many matches as I could because I was scared. I was scared to run after balls,” he confided.
Tennis runs in the family
Born in Bradenton, Fla., Damm was groomed for the sport. His father/coach is former ATP Tour player Martin Damm Sr., who under the Czech flag reached the Top 50 in the late ‘90s. His greatest success, though, came on the doubles court. Damm Sr. would join India’s Leander Paes to capture the US Open men’s doubles title in 2006.
Martin Jr. remembers going to his dad’s practice session along with his brother, Maximilian, picking up the balls on the court and just taking it all in. He knew his career path from an early age. It was an easy sell.
A star junior
Damm was a standout junior. In fact, he boasts an undefeated 2-0 record against Carlos Alcaraz, though those wins came in the Wimbledon boys’ singles draw and at an ITF junior event in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
“I spoke to him a few days ago about it,” said Damm with a smile. “We were young, but even back then, we all knew how amazing, how special he was. There was something just different about him and the way he went about things. He’s great. He says hi to my family, remembers my dad, always says hi with a smile. We have a lot of fun memories, for sure.”
A big presence on the court at 6-foot-8, Damm often relies on his serve to get him out of jams and win some free points. Among the men who advanced on the first two days of the 2025 US Open, he topped the aces list with 24. Look for him to lean on his power stroke when he faces Tiafoe in the biggest match of his young career, on the biggest stage in the sport.
He’s come a long way from Sharm El Sheikh.
