"It was great to hit with him, he's one of the greatest, if not the greatest, in this sport" - Dominic Stricker on practicing with Roger Federer
When Roger Federer was finding his feet on the claycourts in Geneva last year, his teenage compatriot, Dominic Stricker, was making headlines at the same venue. Stricker, 18 years old at the time, reached the quarterfinals of his home tournament in his maiden ATP main-draw appearance.
The southpaw, who is currently vying for a place in the main draw at the Australian Open, spoke about his experience watching Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer in his junior years and how it felt to share the practice court with them.
Stricker said he had fond memories of watching Wawrinka and Federer play in Melbourne.
"These two were playing amazing here. Stan won, I remember Roger won a few times. I think I watched a lot of matches of them when they played here and always had good memories of them, " he said.
The 19-year-old specifically mentioned Wawrinka's win over Rafael Nadal in the final in 2014 and Federer's five-set battles against John Millman and Tennys Sandgren in 2020.
"The final of Stan I remember against Rafa (Nadal), and also a lot of matches of Roger's. I came here as a junior and watched his match against (John) Millman and (Tennys) Sandgren, I think it was, when both matches were pretty close."
Stricker revealed he had an opportunity to practice with Federer for a couple of weeks in Dubai in the 2021 pre-season. He said Federer had asked him to work on his serve and that the training sessions were a great learning experience for him.
"It was just great to hit two, three weeks with him. He's one of the greatest, if not the greatest, in this sport. You learn a lot," Stricker said. "He told me to work a lot on my serve, which I did. Even today, maybe it was not my best service game of … the last few months but I think it helped me in important situations and I'm happy that he told me that."
"I practise sometimes with Stan (too), just a few days. Sometimes he invites me to go there. It's also amazing to hit with him. Both of them, it's great to have them in the same country, " he added.
"Aim was to be top 500 and it all went pretty quick with the win in Lugano" - Dominic Stricker on his 2021 campaign
Stricker first made headlines when he won the junior Roland Garros title in 2020. The Swiss built on that success, moving from 1168 in the world at the start of 2021 to 246 by the end of the year.
Stricker said the transition from juniors to seniors was not easy, but that winning a junior Slam made it easier for him to get wildcards into professional tournaments.
"I think it's tough. If you win a junior Slam it helps you a lot for the wildcard, so of course it's a great achievement but it's not sure you'll do it as a pro. But I think I had a good year as a pro," he said.
Stricker recorded five wins on the main tour last season, three of which came against Marin Cilic, Marton Fucsovics and Hubert Hurkacz. In addition to quarterfinal appearances in Geneva and Stuttgart, he lifted a Challenger title on home soil in Lugano.
Speaking about his progress in 2021, Stricker mentioned that his original aim was to crack the top 500 by the end of the year, but that his Challenger victory accelerated his rise.
"Actually we said the aim was to be top 500 and it all went pretty quick with the win in Lugano, with the Challenger I won, then yeah, with the big wins at home against Cilic, Fucsovics, all these players, I think I played a great year," he reflected.
With Federer and Wawrinka both out of action in Melbourne this year, Swiss hopes will be pinned on Stricker. The 19-year-old will take on Australian Matt Ebden on Thursday for a spot in the final qualifying round.
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