Get familiar with one of the lesser-known players (at least to the general public) to feature at the upcoming inaugural edition of the ATP Cup. The 22-year-old Viktor Durasovic has enjoyed a step forward towards fulfilling his tennis dreams in 2019, breaking to the third hundred of the ATP Rankings for the very first time and becoming a Challenger Tour regular (biggest success was runner-up in Portoroz, lost to Aljaz Bedene). Currently ranked as the world no. 332, Viktor will probably face world no. 17 Karen Khachanov, no. 32 Taylor Fritz, and no. 84 Stefano Travaglia in the group stage. But as evident in the interview, he enjoys being part of the team and is looking forward to the challenge.
What are you looking forward to the most at the upcoming ATP Cup and what does the opportunity to play mean to you?
It’s for sure the biggest event I have played so far in my career, and it will be a lot of fun for me. The financial part will help me to be able to play tournaments this year as well, a big plus for me.
Taylor Fritz and Karen Khachanov are your likely opponents in the group stage. How big do you expect the difference in level to be between them and the players you regularly face at Challenger events?
I have practiced lots with top 100 before and I know from experience that in terms of strokes and all that they are pretty much the same as many guys I’ve played on the challenger tour this year. The biggest difference will be in the mental side and the consistency of the level. I’m confident that my level is high enough to beat some of these guys, but the challenge will be to see if I can hold that up for long enough time to actually win the last point.
Did seeing Casper Ruud’s rise to the top spring you with belief that you can achieve much more in tennis too? How big of an inspiration is Casper to you?
It was fun to see him get higher, it only confirmed to me that I can also make the same happen. We have seen each other play since quite a young age, so to me, it only pushes me to get better so I can get the chance to beat him again like in the younger days haha. Not only him but some of the other guys too. A matter of consistency on my part…
Why do you think there are so few Norwegians in the ATP Rankings? In 2020, for the first time in 20 years, your country will host an ATP Challenger Tour event. Do you think it can massively increase the popularity of tennis in Norway?
Tennis in Norway is not too popular, and even less on the competition side of it. Many guys feel its too hard to become good or feel like the risk isn’t worth it, so they choose to play college or simply quit before the studies start. I think one tournament won’t do much change on that aspect, however, if more of us crack the top 100 it might just do the trick to give the youngers more belief and guts to go for it.
The ATP Cup has created some controversy regarding it being an additional, 19th, event countable for a player’s ATP Ranking. Various players like John Millman or Reilly Opelka have pointed out that despite being ranked much higher than players like you or a few others, they probably won’t play a single match. What is your attitude towards it?
I can see their point of view, but I see this as a similarity to Davis Cup. In Davis Cup these players can also be taken out to be on the team, yet not play a single match.
What do you think about the possibility of merging the ATP Cup and Davis Cup into one event then? That would probably rule out countries like Norway, Moldova, etc.
I didn’t hear anything about this, but I’m not sure. I love Davis Cup and I think maybe merging would be a little too much. But people are constantly looking to improve and change things, so who knows, maybe it could make things better…
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