Leandro Riedi Makes History at the 2025 US Open
23-year-old Leandro Riedi from Switzerland made history on Thursday. He’s the 5th qualifier to reach the third round of the US Open in the men’s singles draw (the list includes fellow Swiss player Jerome Kym), and he’s the lowest-ranked player to reach the third round of a Grand Slam in over 25 years. Since Danny Sapsford in 1999 at Wimbledon, no player outside of the top 400 has reached the main draw third round at a men’s Grand Slam.
The only other players at a comparable ranking to achieve that were all playing under a protected ranking due to injuries, while Riedi has yet to reach the top 100. The end of his 2024 season was derailed by knee surgery, and without a protected ranking, he’s slowly been improving his results on the Challenger Tour.
The Swiss player has only won five times on the main tour in his career. Going into this tournament, other than his good form in qualifying, there was nothing to indicate he was prepared to reach the third round or beyond of a Grand Slam. Riedi was only playing in his second career Grand Slam main draw, having previously qualified for Wimbledon and lost to Oliver Tarvet, a qualifier ranked outside of the top 700, in the first round.
Riedi Stands up for Himself and Wins in Five
This week in New York, Riedi won three qualifying matches and a first-round match over Pedro Martinez without dropping a set. Against #19 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, Riedi came from two sets down to pull off a magical five-set victory, one of the best matches of the tournament. During the match, Riedi made headlines for demanding the tournament remove a spectator he accused of being an aggressive and threatening gambler. From tennis journalist Ricky Dimon on X:
“Leandro Riedi gets broken at 4-2 in the fourth set, starts screaming at a fan during the changeover and asks the umpire to have the fan, whom Riedi says is a known bettor, kicked out. He’s betting. Whenever I lose he is texting me that he hopes my mother dies. Get him out.”
Having spoken for many tennis players who are tired of harassment by gamblers. This was a match of the caliber that Riedi had never played before. He finally put together all his potential and now faces a winnable third-round match against surprise player Kamil Majchrzak of Poland, who is also coming off a five set win over Karen Khachanov. With Riedi coming off a top-20 win from two sets down, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, Cerundolo ran out of steam after already playing five sets in the first round.
A potential Davis Cup pairing of third-round debutants Jerome Kym and Riedi would be formidable for Switzerland. A high-ceiling player limited by knee injuries, Riedi looks to finally be fulfilling his potential and has a bright future ahead.
Main Photo Credit: Imago Images
