by Andrew Eichenholz
Radu Albot has only played in the main draw of one Grand Slam in his career— last season’s U.S. Open—yet, the world No. 130, and the No. 82 ranked player in doubles, has found his way to the French Open men’s doubles quarterfinals, partnering Lukas Rosol.
By the way, he is the only Moldovan to ever play in the main draw of a Grand Slam, forget make the second week. So, when Albot and Rosol take to court two to face off against the No. 6 seeded duo of Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli, there really is nothing to lose.
Albot first crashed the newswire of the tennis world when he qualified in Flushing Meadows last fall. After cruising in his opening match of the 128-player draw, yielding 16 qualifiers, the Moldovan faced plenty of tests on his way to making history.
Marton Fucsovics was once a future star of the ATP World Tour. The Hungarian reached the top of the junior rankings in 2010 and won that year’s Wimbledon Junior Championships, joining the likes of Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg, Pat Cash, Grigor Dimitrov, and many top players. Yet, there he was attempting to qualify for his first major main draw, the favorite in the seond round of qualifying as the No. 31 seed against Albot.
Standing at only 5 feet 9 inches tall, Albot is not somebody who necessarily stands out on the court. In fact, the ITF’s website lists him as a left-handed-player with a double-handed forehand— he hits a one-handed righty’s forehand. This unknown commodity in the tennis world took out the higher profile Fucsovics in arguably the biggest match of his life. Less than a year later, Fucsovics would beat Albot in Davis Cup 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.
But, there was the Moldovan, on the doorstep of an appearance in the main draw of a major, unchartered territory. Standing in his way was James Ward, fresh off of beating Albot just months earlier in French Open qualifiers, a routine 6-3, 7-5 win on the terre battue— not Ward’s best surface.
The Briton broke the Moldovan five times in the match, leaving little reason to believe things would change on what is a better surface for Ward. Yet, three sets and nearly two hours later, it was over. Albot was in the main draw of a major, breaking through at 24-years old.
Newspapers for the most part, excluding the ATP website, did not cover his success, but rather Ward’s disappointing finish in New York. Albot would go on to fall in the first round, but for those focusing on the obvious blockbusters of the second Monday at Roland Garros, keep an eye on an otherwise unsuspecting doubles match.
There are more to the unknown players on tour than meets the eye.
