After the United Cup in Brisbane, it was on to Melbourne for the Australian Open.
What crazy days those were. One day 38°, the next day rain at 15°. This led to one or the other delay in the schedule. In the first qualifying round Dominic had to play against German veteran C. M. Stebe (best ATP ranking) 71. Dominic was ready from the start and dominated the match, winning 6:3 / 6:4. In the second round, the American M. Krueger (PB 135) was waiting. He defeated F. Cobolli (Dominic’s doubles partner in winning the 2020 Roland Garros doubles) in two sets in the first round. Dominic was also able to impose his powerful game on his opponent. And Dominic convinced with super serves and won 6:4 / 7:6(3). Dominic has never been in the third qualifying round of a Grand Slam before. After this match, he had already achieved his best result. But his hunger was not satisfied yet and he went on. E. Couacaud (BP 155) from France or Dominic. The winner would be in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. And both started like fire. It was a match of equals. Both played incredibly good tennis. Both would have easily won against other opponents who were also playing third qualifying rounds. Unfortunately, there could only be one winner. In the end, the Frenchman was the luckier winner. He won both tie-breaks 6:7(3) / 6:7(7) and so Dominic did not qualify for the main draw.
Dominic almost made it into the main draw as a lucky loser (LL). Until Wednesday evening, Dominic waited anxiously to see if another player would get injured or otherwise withdraw before the first round. As the No. 1 seed in the LL, this was a waiting game with a lot of hope and tension. Unfortunately, no one pulled out until the end and Dominic missed the entry by a hair’s breadth. But no matter. Dominic still has many opportunities and his time will come.