By Shrivathsa Sridhar
PARIS, May 30 (Reuters) – American Zachary Svajda mixed tennis with a touch of Parisian flair during his breakthrough French Open run, delighting fans with a viral TikTok post of himself this week wearing a beret and clutching an oversized croissant.
Svajda can expect a spike in his social media following on Saturday after the unseeded 23-year-old continued his adventure at Roland Garros with a 6-3 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-3 win over Argentine 25th seed Francisco Cerundolo in the third round.
“I love my TikTok. It’s so much fun,” Svajda told reporters about the post he put up a day before his clash on Court 14.
“I don’t put any pressure on myself. With TikTok, I feel like I can just post whatever I want. When I saw I had made the third round I was like, ‘I have this picture of me with my big croissant that I got a few days ago’.
“I’m like, ‘you know, I’m going to post it and say, I can’t believe I’m in third round’. Yeah, that one is going viral. It’s so funny. I love my TikTok.”
With little experience on the Grand Slam stage and having never gone past the second round despite regular appearances at his home U.S. Open since 2019, Svajda now finds himself with a golden opportunity to make a deeper run.
The shock exits of world number one Jannik Sinner and 24-times Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, as well as the absence of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, have blown open the men’s draw at the claycourt major this year.
“When I saw Sinner was out, I tried to stay present and stay positive and take it day by day, match by match,” Svajda added.
“I knew the draw was open, but I just tried to keep doing my routines, keep doing what I’ve been doing and see what happens.”
Svajda will look to break a long Grand Slam trophy drought for American men stretching back to 2003 when Andy Roddick won the U.S. Open title.
Compatriots including 19th seed Frances Tiafoe and 31st seed Brandon Nakashima also have the opportunity to go through after their matches on Saturday, but Svajda is aware he could be the last of his countrymen standing in Paris.
“Yeah, that would be amazing. It’s like I’m dreaming right now. It’s crazy,” Svajda said.
“Today was so special too, because it’s my dad’s birthday. I know he’s watching from above.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in ParisEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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