Five things to know about US Open qualifier Koepfer

Dominik Koepfer is enjoying an unbelievable run at the US Open, and will face Daniil Medvedev on Monday for a spot in the quarterfinals. With so many surprise runs this week, Koepfer has flown under the radar a little bit.

Here are five things to know about the world No. 118-ranked German.

1

Koepfer played four years of college tennis at Tulane University in New Orleans. He was the No. 1-ranked college tennis player in the country for most of his senior year, but he started from nearly the bottom. Koepfer began his career playing in the lower half of Tulane’s lineup and worked his way to the No. 1 singles position. “I was pretty terrible my first year,” Koepfer said.

2

He's based in Tampa and coached by former Tennessee All-American Rhyne Williams, but Williams' help isn’t limited to the tennis court. The 28-year-old, who's been ranked as high as No. 41, is a big-time angler, and assisted Koepfer in catching his first-ever fish, a monster large-mouth bass.

3

The left-hander won his first ATP Challenger this year in Ilkey, England. Before the US Open, he had played just seven ATP level singles matches in his career. He reached his career-high ranking of No. 113 just ahead of the Grand Slam.

4

The 25-year-old will crack the ATP top 100 with his six wins in New York. In qualifying, he beat Ryan Harrison, Nicolas Mahut and Yasutaka Uchiyama. In the main draw, he topped Jaume Munar, Reilly Opelka and No. 17 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili. He credits Williams for helping him raise his game to new heights.

5

Koepfer was a multi-sport athlete. He grew up playing tennis, golf and skiing. He says he didn’t pick up a racquet more than twice a week, until he committed to the sport full time at the age of 16.

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