US Open 2021 – From University of Texas to Flushing Madness: Rinderknech or the praise of maturity

This new status, Rinderknech acquired through hard work and perseverance and in a 2021 season which quickly looked like a revelation. After two Challengers won at the start of 2020, and despite the Covid pandemic which cut him off somewhat, he took the bull by the horns, winning in his first tournament of the year in Istanbul (again at Challenger ) on exiting qualifying. Then, he crossed a new milestone in March in Marseille, where he won his first matches on the ATP circuit, reaching at the same time the quarter-finals of the competition. Three other quarters (Lyon, Bastad and Gstaad) and a half (Kitzbühel) followed, that is to say 13 matches won as well as a status of Top 100 (83rd currently) largely deserved.

Tennistically and especially humanly trained in Texas

Breaking into the circuit at 26 is not given to everyone, even if the meteoric trajectory of an Aslan Karatsev can also serve as a counterexample. But the progress of Rinderknech does not surprise his cousin Benjamin Balleret, himself a former professional player (204th world at best, Editor’s note). “He works well with his coach Sébastien Villette in a structure that helps him progress. Obviously, it all comes from the player. As soon as he finished college three years ago and decided to take the circuit, he believed in it. He didn’t go there to be 300th in the world, he went there to be where he is today and even higher. It’s not over yet, he can enter the Top 50. I think he has the ambition and he is doing everything to get there“, notes the Monegasque.

The university in the United States is what gives Rinderknech’s professional career its specificity. With a mother who was a professional player (Virginie Paquet, 208th in the WTA, Editor’s note) and a club director father in Paris, little Arthur was immersed in tennis and made it his favorite sport from the age of six. . But his vocation came later. “We grew up together with a fairly close family. When he had made a few Futures at 18, I went to see him. He didn’t really want, not the motivation, the will to really make it. And that’s why he left for America too“, says Balleret.

Attracted across the Atlantic by Steve Denton, coach of the Texas A&M University tennis team, Rinderknech flourished there for four years. There he acquired a degree in business, reassuring for him and his parents, and the love of competition despite sometimes hostile atmospheres, in a country which gives sport a prominent place. “It is especially mentally that I have come a long way there. I went from ‘not at all ready to go on the circuit’ to ‘determined to give it a shot’. These four years have been superb, the craziest of my life“, has also indicated the main interested in L’Equipe.

Once the mind is formed, natural qualities to aim high

There is therefore a tasty wink of fate to see him unlock his Grand Slam counter in the United States, even if New York is far from Texas where everything was played out for him. Trained in tennis and humanely there, he gave himself the means to exist on the circuit by embarking on the adventure for the right reasons. Once the inner fire was cultivated, its natural qualities did the rest.

“He has two very, very strong strokes: the serve and the forehand. That’s why I think he can be Top 30, 25 or even 20. Everyone in it always has two or three out of class moves and Arthur has them. He is tall (1 meter 96, Editor’s note) and moves very well for his size. There is no limit for him technically, he feels the game pretty well“, details Balleret.

Alcaraz, the opposite model

Rinderknech also learned from his disappointments at Roland Garros (defeat in three sets against Marin Cilic in the first round) and especially from Wimbledon where he fell to one point in the second round against Oscar Otte after coming out of qualifying. He proved it by demonstrating a foolproof tactical lucidity Monday when, despite the cramps, he rushed to the net to provoke luck (54 points gained from 81 climbs). When the body lets go, the spirit is always there. This is perhaps the lesson of the method and the path taken by the native of Gassin.

“Unless we are very precocious like Alexander Zverev or Carlos Alcaraz, for whom it made no sense to go to university because we knew it would go quickly, c t is very hard to break through before 20 years in general. There are a few exceptions of course, but I think it’s a good school to go to the United States for this course.“, observes Balleret again. Alcaraz, precisely, as chance (or fate) does things well, this is Rinderknech’s next challenge.

Everything opposes the improbable detours taken by the Frenchman and the straightforward course of the 18-year-old Spanish prodigy already 55th player in the world, if not the ambition to aim higher. It remains to be seen whether Rinderknech will have recovered from his efforts in the first round, to be able to fight a good battle on the court.