Peter Gojowczyk participated in the round of 16 in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The 32-year-old from Munich qualifiers beat Swiss Henri Laksonen at the US Open on Friday.
Peter Gojowczyk jogged and then clapped his hands in disbelief: the 32-year-old from Munich continues the best track of his Grand Slam career with great determination and is among the top 16 for the first time.
The qualifier, who traveled to the US Open without a coach or personal physical player, moved into the round of 16 on Friday after a successful following impressive performance of 3:6, 6:3, 6:1, 6:4 against Swiss Henri Laksonen of New York A.
Gojowczyk has already netted a prize money of US$265,000 (around €220,000) and will now face either French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece or talented Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
Zverev also wants to go to the round of 16
With Alexander Zverev and Oscar Otti, two more German men had a chance to reach the last 16 on Saturday. Zverev meets former world number eight Jack Sock from the United States. Otti, also qualifier, faces Italian Andreas Seppi. Angelique Kerber is the only one left for women. Three-time Grand Slam winner American Sloane Stephens will face off on Friday night in a duel between former winners of the tournament.
Gojowczyk reached the third round as one of five qualifiers – more than in 1984 at the US Open. To some extent his successes were also triumphs against odds. While the top stars traveled to New York with big teams, Gojowczyk accepted the challenge as a team. “I am proud of the way I manage all this,” said the athlete, who trains at Unterföhring near Munich and does not currently have a permanent coach.
So he prepared alone for the match against Laksonen, which he has not yet met at the level of the tour. In the Challenge Tournaments, Gojowczyk lost close duels on hard ground against the original Finn, but the entire match situation couldn’t compare to a third-round game at a major tournament.
In the bright sunlight on the runway, Gojowczyk got into the first set quite well, but lost focus a little, looking dissatisfied, shook his head. But the reaction was correct, he now played even more aggressively and immediately took a break at the beginning of the second part of the match, which he no longer offers.
And Gojowczyk was now fully on the trigger, not letting Laaksonen back into the fencing and cheering his big success.
