The first strawberries – and soon the top 100?: premiere of Stricker’s sweet Wimbledon

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These words go down like butter – or in the Wimbledon metaphor: like strawberries with whipped cream. Dominic Stricker (20) is receiving extra praise after his second round performance against heavy favorite Frances Tiafoe (25). The American number ten in the world was almost desperate at the beginning of the 7: 6, 6: 4, 6: 2 success with the young Berner, as he later admits. Of Stricker he says: “He has great service. He was really persistent – the first sentence was really hard.”

What didn’t make things any easier was the fact that Stricker is still an absolute grab bag on tour. The number of duels that the number 117 in the world has played at this level is manageable. Accordingly, Tiafoe could not get “much” information about his opponent.

The rookie rocked

Stricker should have had an advantage – also because of the four set balls (!). The rookie was still rocking at this year’s Wimbledon edition. Five strong matches in eleven intense days. Inspired by his Grand Slam premiere as a lucky loser in Paris, he made it sportingly five weeks later. And with the opening win in the main draw against Australian Alexei Popyrin (23/ATP 93), he showed that he can hold his own on the big stage. “I take so much from this tournament,” says Stricker: “Just the atmosphere here is amazing, this flower-decorated facility, this tradition that immediately stands out.”

It goes without saying that during his baptism of fire at the men’s level, Stricker has to go through the entire program. Stricker poses for Blick with a cardboard bowl full of strawberries. It is one of a whopping 250,000 servings sold here each year, along with 11,500 liters of cream. It used to be considered the fine way to eat a few strawberries during tea time. So this tradition prevailed on Church Road – and is now part of Stricker’s very personal Wimbledon experience. “I really like her! Strawberries are always good,” laughs the young man from Gross Höchstetten BE.

The berries, for which the fans queue for half an hour, are his sweet reward. And there could even be a second: thanks to his good performance in southwest London, the left-hander makes a jump in the world rankings, just above the magic 100. This creates the starting point for him to reach a double-digit ranking for the first time in his career with a strong ATP 250 tournament in Gstaad (from July 17). But this is not granted to him: because he advanced to the second round last year, he must first defend these points before he can catch up more ground.

If he actually breaks into the top 100 after Gstaad, he would be in the main draw of the US Open, which in turn would be the next major premiere of his young career. But Stricker doesn’t want to think that far ahead: “First of all, I’m glad I was at eye level against Tiafoe at times. My level was good. And I’m glad I made it through those days physically too. It was a stress test that I had never done before. have had.”

For the next few days he was released by coach Dieter “Didi” Kindlmann (41). The Berner spends them at home. Also on grass. But this time to play golf with colleagues.

Source : Blick