Martin Damm: From PlayStation in Egypt to the 'best tennis moment of my life'

ATP Tour

Martin Damm: From PlayStation in Egypt to the 'best tennis moment of my life'

Inside the American lefty's resurgence

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Martin Damm is competing in the US Open as the No. 431 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. By Andrew Eichenholz

Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, posted a practice-court selfie on his Instagram Stories Tuesday with a player whom some fans might not be familiar: Martin Damm.

The World No. 431 received a wild card into US Open qualifying, in which he did not lose a set to earn his place in a major main draw for the first time. On Wednesday, the American takes on 2024 semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe in an attempt to become the second-lowest-ranked man to defeat a Top 20 player at a Grand Slam tournament this century.

“It feels amazing. It’s the best tennis moment of my life,” Damm said after his first-round victory against Darwin Blanch. “Obviously wouldn’t be possible if USTA never gave me a wild card, so super thankful to them and it’s been an amazing few days, so super happy that I’m playing well, but mainly that I’m staying healthy.”

The key word is healthy. Rising through the juniors, Damm was one of the sport’s brightest prospects and in 2019 he even defeated Alcaraz twice, both times in straight sets. The lefty first beat the Spaniard 6-4, 6-4 in Porto Alegre — where he also eliminated Holger Rune — and then did so again in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, 6-1, 6-4.

“We were young and we were having fun off court and all playing well on the court. Even back then, we all knew how amazing he is and how special he is,” said Damm, who reached No. 3 in the juniors. “There was something just different about him and the way he went about things. Whenever I play a better player or someone that is maybe a little better than me, it brings out the best in me. That was a long time ago, but fun times for sure.”

Damm and Alcaraz have known each other since they were entering their teens, competing at the prestigious Les Petits As and continuing their path to professional tennis. But while Alcaraz became the youngest No. 1 in the history of the PIF ATP Rankings in 2022, Damm’s career-high ranking is No. 175. A big part of that is due to injury.

Last year, the huge-serving Damm advanced to the third round of the Miami Open presented by Itau, the best result of his career. Not long after, he tore two ligaments in his ankle (ruptured syndesmosis) and came back too early, suffering a stress fracture. That kept him in a boot for 11 weeks from October until February of this year.

“Last year, the first five months of the year were the best tennis of my life. I was experiencing a lot of firsts and the next thing you know I can’t even walk to the bathroom because of my injury,” Damm said. “It wasn’t fun. It was something that I had to put my ego aside and my past aside and just put my head down and realise the situation I’m in and do the best I can to get out of there as fast as possible.”

Next thing Damm knew, he was playing 15K events on the ITF World Tennis Tour in Egypt and on a slide outside the world’s Top 700.

“It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t easy. A lot of firsts,” Damm said. “I thought I’d never, ever step foot onto the grounds in Egypt, to be honest.”

The American traveled there with his coach and physio, and they even brought a PlayStation to keep busy. It helped that Damm was winning matches. In May, he played back-to-back events in Georgia and began to find his stride.

A year and a half after hitting the pinnacle of his career, Damm is proving that he belongs at the top level. He looks forward to giving it his best shot against Tiafoe.

“It’ll definitely be something that I’ve been looking forward to for an extremely long time. I actually could have played Frances last year in Miami… I was kind of hoping to play him there,” Damm said. “He’s an exciting player and they love him here in New York. He’s had tremendous success and he’s a top player and someone I’ve looked up to since I’ve been 12 years old.

“I talked with him in the locker room the other day and we were talking about and telling stories from when I was 12 and he was 18, 19 back in the dorms in Boca. [He is] someone I know pretty well that has had tremendous success. It’ll be an amazing challenge for me and an experience that I’m hoping for and looking forward to.

Click here to read article