Dominic Stricker is in the semifinals of the ATP Challenger tournament in Prague. Before his match against the top seeded Filip Krajinovic, tennisnet spoke to the young Swiss.

© Florian Army

By Florian Heer from Prague

Dominic Stricker has his sights set on ranking among the top 100 tennis players in the world. On the way there, the 20-year-old Swiss sought new support. The cooperation with his previous coach Sven Swinnen has ended and now Dieter Kindlmann, who already knows the sport in the Confederation from previous activities at Swiss Tennis, should help Stricker to take the next step in his career. The 40-year-old German was once Maria Sharapova’s hitting partner for a long time and later coached top players Angelique Kerber and Aryna Sabalenka. With Kindlmann at his side, the young man from Bern won his fourth title on the ATP Challenger Tour in February in Rovereto, Italy.

This week Stricker is on the road at the Advantage Cars Prague Open. After victories over the wild card player Kalin Ivanovski from North Macedonia and the Brazilian Felipe Meligeni Alves, the number 129 in the world rankings met the Czech young talent Dalibor Svrcina in the quarterfinals on Friday. After a hard-fought three-set win, we met up with Stricker for an interview.

Tennisnet: Congratulations on winning today! The match was a bit of a roller coaster ride. What made the difference in the end?

Dominic Stricker: Thank you very much. It really wasn’t easy today. Dalibor gives you very little on clay and has a good hand. In the end I was maybe more consistent in the important moments. Luck certainly played a part too.

You are both 20 years old. Did you remember each other from the juniors?

We know each other very well and have already played against each other on the junior tour. We have a good relationship and he’s a great guy.

You’ve had a lot going on lately. The collaboration with your coach Sven Swinnen has ended. Can you summarize again what has happened in the last few weeks and why did you decide on Dieter Kindlmann as the new coach?

I had a small foot injury and took a three-week break. Now it feels good to be back on tour. A lot has happened off the pitch too. The partnership with Sven has come to an end. We parted on good terms and we still have a great relationship. He texts me after every match and we will continue to see each other at the training base in Biel. But now I’m traveling with Didi. We met at Swiss Tennis and it’s great to have such an experienced coach by my side. He’s a nice guy and we get along really well off the pitch too. But he has his line on the pitch and is strict. I need. At our first tournament in Rovereto, Italy, I immediately won the title. I like his attitude and what he wants to achieve with me. It all made up for it.

They are here in Prague for their first clay court tournament of the season. How does it feel and what is the conclusion for the first half of the season?

It was a good half year. I played well. I’ve always struggled on clay in recent seasons. Even if things could have gone differently at this tournament, I’m very satisfied overall.

At the beginning of the year you were about to qualify for the main draw of the Australian Open. Is getting a main draw in a Grand Slam the main goal?

Sure, that’s one of the big goals and a dream for everyone. In addition, I would like to crack the top 100.

How would you describe your playing style? Where are the strengths and what might you still need to work on?

My serve is definitely one of my strengths. I try to dominate the game with my forehand. The backhand is still being worked on. Of course, there is always room for improvement.

You don’t seem to shy away from the internet either.

I think the brave thing, gambling on the net, is pretty cool. You never know what will happen and of course I would like to keep it that way.

There are some good young players in Switzerland again at the moment. In addition to you, Leandro Riedi and Jerome Kym are particularly noteworthy. What is the secret of success?

We have always trained together since junior days and we push each other up. If one plays well, the others want to follow suit. It’s extremely cool how we’ve developed. We get along very well off the pitch too. I travel a lot with Leandro in particular. It’s fantastic to have such a great squad.

What else can we expect from you this week?

I am now looking forward to the match against top seeded Filip Krajinovic. It’s always great to play against a higher placed player. But I’ll get my chances and then we’ll see what happens.

Thank you and continued success.