By Tracy Zwick
Aleksander Kovacevic started playing tennis at the age of 6 while living on the Upper West Side.
He developed his game early on by spending hours hitting a backboard near Central Park and 97th Street, just blocks from the apartment where he grew up with his sister Lena and parents Millie and Milan.
All those hours and years of training eventually led to junior tournaments and a college career. Aleks is now 26 and an elite professional tennis player, traveling the world on the ATP tour and playing in front of worldwide audiences.
Last night he finally came home and entered Louis Armstrong Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, where he made his first appearance in the main draw of the US Open, facing 20th seed American Francis Tiafoe.
The Louis Armstrong Stadium is one of two show courts at the Open, along with the Arthur Ashe Stadium. They are the largest arenas on the property and are where the most important games take place.
A strong Tiafoe prevailed against Kovacevic in four sets on Monday evening, despite the Upper West Sider’s 25 aces, his agile returns and a increasingly rare one-handed backhandOne advantage for him as one of the few New Yorkers in the field was that he had a lot of support from the audience.
Friends, family and fans cheered on Kovacevic, a PS9, MS54 and Beacon High School graduate, throughout the game. His parents, his sister and his former youth tennis coach were present along with his current team.
Aleks has risen in the ATP ranking since January, when he broke into the top 100. Last month, he reached the round of 16 at the Citi Open in Washington, DC, where he ultimately lost to Francis Tiafoe. He is currently ranked 76th in the world.
On to the mixed doubles
While Kovacevic’s loss to Tiafoe last night ended his run in this year’s US Open singles competition, he will begin his campaign in the mixed doubles tomorrow, playing with 16-year-old Tyra Grant, the daughter of Tyrone Grant, a former St. John’s University basketball player. Tyra won the girls’ doubles draw at the 2023 French Open as a 15-year-old and this year won the girls’ doubles title at the 2024 Australian Open and the girls’ doubles title at 2024 Wimbledon.
You can see Aleks and Tyra in person on Wednesday or watch their game on ESPN. The schedule for Wednesday will be released at the end of Tuesday and is available on the US Open App.
Read more: WSR’s complete guide to the 2024 US Open
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