There’s a reason male tennis players never have to play two Grand Slam, best-of-five matches on consecutive days.
The wear and tear on the body is overwhelming. Pro tennis in 2026 is brutally physical, with matches and games stretching past three, four, and on occasion five hours.
Zach Svadja, the 23-year-old San Diego kid who has rocketed up the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) rankings this year, felt every bit of it before, during and after his September 3 match at the US Open against France’s Arthur Gea.
“I woke up this morning, and my abs and my core were totally locked up,” Svajda said. “My back, my legs, everything was a lot more sore than usual. So I knew it was going to be a struggle.”
That struggle resulted in a second-round, four-set loss to France’s Gea at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Thursday night, knocking Svajda out of the tournament after a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 loss.
The San Diegan won the first set 7-5, but Gea rallied to take the next three sets.
“Even when I won the first set, I wasn’t feeling too good,” Svajda said. “But you know, it’s the Open, a Grand Slam, a big opportunity, so I tried to push through and hang in there; who knows what could happen. But he played really, really well.”
Despite the loss, 2026 has been a remarkably successful year for the former USTA 18s national champion.
His climb up the ATP rankings has been slow and steady; 2025 saw him break into the Top 150 for the first time, then the 23-year-old cracked the Top 100 after a strong start to the year.
But then his 2026 took off like a rocket ship: In Australia, he won three qualifying matches to make the main draw for the first time, then shocked everyone by reaching the fourth round of Roland Garros before losing a close four-setter to No. 14 seed Flavio Cobolli.
Proving his run in Paris was no fluke, Svajda made it to the third round at Wimbledon before losing.
He earned $948,000 in 2026 heading into the U.S. Open, and now has blown past the $1 million mark.
“The only big thing I bought myself was a new Rolex,” Svajda sheepishly admitted.
Svajda cracked the Top 65 in the ATP rankings earlier this summer, before an intestinal virus knocked him off the tour for a few weeks after Wimbledon. He entered the Open ranked No. 80.
“Going into Roland Garros, making the second week I was like, ‘wow,’” he said. “It was a little shocker because I never grew up on clay. I only grew up on hard courts. That showed a lot to me, that I could beat anyone on any surface.”
“It’s been a good year so far. You know, a lot of goals have been achieved, and I’m still hunting for more, but it’s been a good year.”
At the U.S.Open, Svajda endured rain delays that postponed his match a few times before winning in the first round over Germany’s Daniel Altmeier. Then came his loss to Gea.
“I’m very happy with where his game is right now. He seems to be in a great spot,” said longtime coach David Nainkin, who, along with Ray Sarmiento, coaches Svajda. “He’s made great strides and has really come along nicely.”
Svajda said there hasn’t been any one thing that has made his 2026 so successful, just having the confidence to try what he does in practice, in matches.
“We’re putting the pieces together,” he said. “I felt like I could always do that in practice but now we’re finally this year putting that into matches and so like, I keep going after my serve more, and looking for the forehand. Even though I’m kind of known to have a really good backhand, I’m actually running around my forehand, using that more and just building more weapons.
“Before,” he continued, “I’d be scared in a way to not really to play my game like how I do in practice, but I told myself like you know we put so much hard work in with my team and I want to become a top player, I’m gonna have to do what I do in practice on the match.”
Other players have noticed how well Svajda is doing. After his own second-round win, fellow Californian Alex Michelsen beamed when asked about Svajda.
“Zach! That’s my boy! He’s doing so great, so happy for him,” Michelsen said.
Coming back to Flushing Meadows this year brought mixed feelings for Svajda. Last August 27th, on Arthur Ashe Stadium, he played the greatest men’s player of all time, Novak Djokovic, and gave the legend all he could handle in a four-set loss.
Watching from his home in San Diego, Tom Svadja did his best to follow the action, as he always has when watching or coaching his sons, Zach or Trevor. Tom Svajda was a longtime pro at Pacific Beach Tennis Club, nurturing players young and old.
He started (coaching me) when I was 2,” Zach Svajda said Thursday. “So it’s been our tradition our whole life. So him seeing me (play Djokovic) was really, really special.”
That match was always going to be memorable the 23-year-old, but one reason it is, is a tragic one: It was the last match of Zach’s Tom was able to watch. The elder Svajda had been battling cancer for years, and passed away on Oct. 13 at age 60.
Zach played one more match in 2025, then took the rest of the year off, to grieve and help his family.
“I didn’t hit a ball for like three months, not until it was time to leave for Australia,” Svajda recalled. “And then I knew that for the rest of my career, I was going to play for my dad. I think about him every day.”
Despite Thursday’s loss, the arrow is most decidedly pointed up for Svajda’s career, as it also is for Trevor, currently a top college player at Southern Methodist University in Texas.
“I’ve been staying positive and really enjoying seeing the progress,” Svajda said. “Still a long way to go.”
Wherever he does go, he knows Tom will be watching.
