QUEENS, N.Y. – Every tennis player has those points they wish they could replay. The points that keep them awake at night.
For Coronado’s Ryan Seggerman and his British partner Matthew Romios, there were seven of them in the first set of their first-round U.S. Open doubles match on Saturday. Facing Czech duo Tomas Machac and Matej Vocel, Seggerman and Romios dropped a heartbreaker, 7-6 (13), 5-7, 6-3.
The first set was especially cruel: they had a break point early at 2-1, then six set-point chances to close the tiebreaker, only to watch each slip away. The Czech pair finally edged it, 15-13.
Despite leading in most statistical categories, including total points in the first set (48 vs 47), Seggerman and Romios lost the set, 7-6 (15-13).
“If we replay that first set 10 times, I honestly believe it would go our way 7 or 8 of those, but on Saturday that wasn’t the case,” said Seggerman.
However, the pair regrouped for the second. They had six break-point opportunities across four games, and finally broke Vocel’s serve to go up 6-5. Romios served to close out the set, 7-5.
In the third, despite Romios and Seggerman’s ability to save three break points, Machac and Vocel finally broke Romios’ serve on their fourth chance and held their own serve to win the set, 6-3.
“Matthew and I played a pretty good match overall,” said Seggerman. “Even though we fought back to win the second, our best opportunity to win the match was behind us already as the opponents just played a better third set.”
The match was a reminder of how fine the margins are at this level—just a point here or there between victory and defeat.
“I think winning and losing at grand slams always has more magnitude than other tournaments, just due to the opportunity that is there financially and in the rankings,” said Seggerman. “This one for sure stings quite a bit.”
Seggerman is optimistic about his turn at a breakthrough result at a Grand Slam. “I am happy with the match that I played and the level that I have brought to the court the last couple months. Results are never guaranteed and doing the right things didn’t translate to the desired outcome in this case, but there is always another grand slam around the corner and I am confident my Cinderella run is coming.”
Notable
- Seggerman held serve each of his eight service opportunities. Impressively, his 11 aces were the highest on the court, and he held at love or -15 six times. The most his opponents scored in any of his service games was two points.
- One year ago, Seggerman gained entry into his very first Grand Slam tournament, also the US Open. Now, he has played in five consecutive and has a 2-3 record in the first round.
- Seggerman and his partner split $30,000 for this tournament.
- Seggerman’s current doubles ranking of 67 is his highest ever.
- Seggerman heads to China on Saturday to play in tournaments for almost two months in Asia. In his words, “The journey continues.”
I hope to see Ryan at the coming Australian Open.
I do, too!