MELBOURNE, Australia — Thirteen times Tennys Sandgren tried to qualify for a Grand Slam tournament. Thirteen times he failed.
At the Australian Open, he had never even made it to the final round of qualifying in his five attempts. He got into last year’s French Open and United States Open through wild cards.
“Losing in qualies is awful,” Sandgren, 26, said in an interview late Monday night. “It’s one of the worst experiences I’ve had professionally, and I’ve had it a lot of times.”
He is now having his best experience professionally, reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-3 victory over fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem on Monday.