Mitchell Krueger: From watching the US Open at home to 30 | ATP Tour

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Mitchell Krueger: From watching the US Open at home to being 30 years old

The American talks to ATPtour.com about life as a father

August 28, 2024

On August 16, three days before qualifying for the US Open began, Mitchell Krueger stood on the nearly empty practice courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with his 15-month-old daughter Camille. The world’s largest tennis court, Arthur Ashe Stadium, was just meters away. International stars such as 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic, World No. 1 Jannik Sinner and four-time Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz were yet to come and occupy those courts.

But Krueger has made a name for himself in the last game of the season. The 30-year-old on Monday defeated Frenchman Hugo Grenier 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 to reach the second round at Flushing Meadows.

It is America’s 30th major – including qualifying efforts and major draw – and only the second time it has advanced to the second round of a major draw.

“The first feeling was relief. It was a hard, long battle. It was pushing for about four hours, [we were] to have a lot of long rallies, long points, and I definitely deserved it,” Krueger told ATPTour.com. “But relief was the first emotion. Obviously a huge achievement, because it’s only the second Slam match I’ve ever won. So to do it in New York after qualifying was also very special. “

This is also Krueger’s first major role as a father. One of her goals this year was to put less pressure on herself tennis-wise, and taking care of Camille helped give her perspective.

“It’s easy to get caught up in the past and its results reflect who I am as a person, like ‘I’m a tennis player.’ I live and die win or lose’, but this gives me a second facade, I think, that I can win or lose and follow the game and go into dad mode,” Krueger said. “He’s only 15 months old [old]so he doesn’t know what’s going on, he doesn’t care if I win or lose. So that perspective definitely helped a lot.”

Camille has been to a few tournaments this year, but she’s enjoyed her time on site, whether you’ve seen it or not.

“The first thing people ask me is where is he and they want to see him, if they haven’t met him yet, even if they have, they want to see him,” said Krueger. “He is definitely the life of the party wherever he goes. But he’s the most social kid I’ve ever seen. He waves to everyone and now he is running or walking and running fast. He’s all over the place, put him down, and he just jumps on everyone else.”

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While Camille missed her father’s US Open tournaments, Krueger enjoyed one of the best tournaments of her career. He lost one set in the qualifiers and will now play 32nd seed Jiri Lehecka to reach the third round of a major for the first time.

“Obviously, it’s an uncharted territory. “I made the second round here once and lost in the second round,” Krueger said. “So these are big, important games. But I just try to take it one at a time, not get too ahead of what’s down the road.”

This time last year, Krueger was at home in Dallas watching tennis. He had not made the qualifying cut at Flushing Meadows. This is his first major since the 2023 Australian Open.

“That makes this year very special. I was close to getting into the US Open last year, [I was] one of the first Americans [who went] outside [and] he didn’t go in,” Krueger said. “This year it was the same, I ended up there, I think, with two or three [matches won] except for French [Open] and qualifying for Wimbledon. So I was there in the bubble. For it to be my first time playing in almost two full calendar years made it all the more important to me. Doing it the way I’ve done it so far is the icing on the cake.”

Krueger, who has a career high of No. 135 in the PIF ATP Rankings, was No. 293 as recently as the first week of March. If the American beats Lehecka on Wednesday, he will break the Top 130 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Krueger has secured two ATP Challenger Tour crowns in 2024.

“It sounds silly, but I felt like I was playing the best tennis of my career last year. But on paper, I probably had the worst year of my career, by any standard [concerned],” Krueger said. “I feel like this year speaks to that, because it’s just a continuation, and the pieces are moving, and I’ve been keeping up with my results all year with hard work. [court] and clay – not just one place.

“I think I want to keep going, finish the year strong… Having big results like this makes me hungry for more at this level.”