Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler experienced the most important achievement of his career so far on Mexican clay by winning 125 points at the Mexico City Open. Although the tennis player has found a high level on the Challenger tour, his next goal is to get into the top 100 of the ranking to play the ATP events and the Grand Slams: “in the end that’s where you want to be and the matches you want to win,” he said. in an interview with The Economist.
Huesler is a tennis player who has developed his professional career mostly on the ATP Challenger Tour. All those players with aspirations to compete on the big stages of the ATP Tour and the Grand Slams must go through this circuit first. In this, his compatriot Roger Federer entered as number 300 in the world and finished as 60 after a year.
Although it is a step prior to the most important tour in tennis, the Challenger Tour is unpredictable and its competitors demand a high demand. At this stage of professionalism, “anyone can beat anyone,” Huesler said. His own experience in the Mexico City Open is proof of this, since he battled from the first round against Gilbert Klier Junior, a player who entered the draw from the qualifying matches; Huesler won the title against the favorite and second best seed, the Argentine Tomás Etcheverry.
“It’s the biggest title I’ve ever won, so it’s definitely one of the highlights of my career so far. I’m not really sure what ranking I’ll put myself in, but I’m trying to keep developing my game week after week and month after month to be a better player, because the long-term goal is to be in the top 100 and for that I still need some points. . Weeks like these show that we work very hard and give you courage when things are not going very well”, he expressed.
The player who arrived at the Mexico City Open with the 176th ranking, was awarded 125 points and 21,600 dollars by winning the trophy, which also represented the third crown for the Swiss in Mexican territory, after conquering the Metepec Future in 2017 and the Challenger of San Luis Potosí in 2019, while, on the general level, he added his fourth title as a professional in singles.
Huesler was one of the most dominant players after the restart of the tour in August 2020. That season, as happened on Saturday in Mexico, he faced the final of the Sibiu Challenger, Romania, against the Argentine Tomás Etcheverry and there also the Swiss emerged victorious. He immediately lifted the title in Ismaning, Germany, for which, between both tournaments, he took 80 ATP points.
That same year he reached the semi-finals of the ATP 250 in Kitzbuhel, earning five straight wins since qualifying, including the first Top 20 win of his career over Fabio Fognini.
For now, their next stops will be the Challenger tournaments in San Luis Potosí (April 11-17) and Aguascalientes (April 18-24). The tennis player is comfortable playing in Mexican territory, he thinks that the altitude favors his game.
“I am anxiously awaiting these next weeks in San Luis Potosí and Aguascalientes, I think that if I am strong in my game I can be dangerous for any rival, so I hope to return home with three trophies”, he mentioned in the post-match conference.
Throughout his career, the Swiss has won $376,106 in prize money, which he reinvests in tennis. His main sponsor and who also helps finance his journey is the Fromm brand, a global manufacturer of hand tools and automated systems.
“The prize money is the main resource that helps me travel. It is an investment you have to make to become better. You have to think that in the next few years, when you are entering the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam, at some point you will make much more money than what you invested previously.
On the other hand, the Chilean Nicolás Jarry and his partner Matheus Pucinelli, from Brazil, won the title of champions of the doubles tournament of the Mexico City Open 2022, after beating the pair made up of the French 6-2 and 6-3 Jonathan Eysseric and Artem Sitak from New Zealand.
