The second tournament of the 2019 season for Tennys Sandgren was certainly one of the highlights of his year. In Auckland, Sandgren picked up the first ATP main tour title of his career, not dropping a set all tournament, which includes a comfortable win over Cameron Norrie in the final.
But, from there, it was downhill for Sandgren. He lost six straight matches from the Australian Open until Miami, the win in Auckland seemingly a more draining event for Sandgren, rather than acting like a springboard.
Sandgren dropped back into the Challenger Tour, not winning tournaments, but picking up a bunch of individual wins at clay court Challengers. His game was very defensive at this point, with the American unwilling to really step forward in the court. However, the wins during the Challenger gave Sandgren more match play and confidence.
Sandgren qualified for the French Open without losing a set, but lost in the first round to Radu Albot. However, it was clear that Sandgren was improving once again. At Wimbledon, Sandgren made the round of 16, including huge wins of Gilles Simon and Fabio Fognini. The win over Simon was especially sweet, given that Simon had won in straight sets against Sandgren the week before in Eastbourne. While Sandgren lost in the round of 16 to Sam Querrey, he put up a great fight in that match and was very good at transitioning from defense to offense.
The American had decent form from the end of Wimbledon through the US Open. He made the quarterfinals of Newport and beat Andy Murray in Winston Salem. At the US Open, he beat Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in the first round in an epic five-set match, on his way to a third round appearance.
Following the US Open, Sandgren only played one match on the ATP main tour, losing in Zhuhai to Andy Murray. He also played the Houston Challenger, winning a match, but losing in his round of 16 match. Ranked World No. 68 after Houston, expect him not to play too much on the Challenger Tour (if at all) next year.
Sandgren’s year had high peaks, such as winning Auckland and making the round of 16 at Wimbledon, but also was humbling. After having moved past the Challenger Tour, he was forced to come back for a pit stop.
Sandgren’s play on the main tour hinged on his willingness to be aggressive at times, as opposed to trying a defense-only strategy. If Sandgren commits to stepping up in the court during the 2020 season, then expect to see him deep in more main tour events.
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