Inside the rise of Martin Damm

Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour

At a 2019 junior tournament in Porto Alegre, Brazil, a 15-year-old American defeated Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune in straight sets en route to the final. Later that year in the Wimbledon boys’ singles event, the same player ousted Alcaraz in straight sets again. None of those sets went beyond 6-4.

That player was Martin Damm, the son of 40-time tour-level doubles titlist Martin Damm. While Alcaraz and Rune enjoyed historic rises on the ATP Tour, Damm, now 20, is making his own breakthrough.

After earning his first tour-level win Wednesday at the Miami Open presented by Itau against Zhang Zhizhen, Damm will have another opportunity to show his game on the big stage against the No. 14 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Tommy Paul.

“This is what everyone dreams of playing, matches in these big tournaments,” Damm told ATPTour.com. “I was fortunate enough to be around these kinds of tournaments as a young kid with my father. And obviously, my last few years haven't been maybe the way a lot of people thought after juniors. But I thought my level was always there.

“I thought I was getting closer and closer each year, [that] I just needed a few matches to kind of go my way. And luckily the last eight months, it's been going that way. And to win this match [against Zhang] was obviously something I've been waiting for and looking forward to for a very long time.”

^{Photo: Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour}
One of the brightest American prospects for years, Damm’s childhood was not exclusively focussed on tennis. He played many sports, especially with older brother Max.

“We did everything together. We played ice hockey actually with Toby Kodat as well and Sebastian Korda was in the team above us,” Damm said. “We played golf, he played soccer a little bit here and there. Obviously tennis. So I think it's tough for me to say if I truly really wanted to be a professional tennis player at that age, but it was definitely something I enjoyed.

“Being competitive with my brother was something that really helped as well. Just kind of, going to practice together and playing the same tournaments. That definitely helped my motivation to be a pro tennis player.”

Damm would play hockey two or three times a week at the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex in Florida. His family is full of Tampa Bay Lightning fans.

“The reason why we stopped was actually not that we didn't like it. Honestly, hockey is the best sport for me, personally,” Damm said. “But it was hard for my mom who had to drive me and my brother, dress us up at a young age and have my baby sister in her arms while my dad was still playing towards the end of his career.

“It got kind of hard for my mom to do everything alone. So unfortunately, that's the reason why we stopped. But I guess everything kind of happens for a reason.”

Damm remembers realising he was “not just a Florida-level tennis player” when he made the semi-finals at the Easter Bowl. By 15 he was shining on the world’s stage, beating players who quickly ascended to stardom like Alcaraz and Rune.

“It's pretty incredible the level we were playing at as 15-year-olds. Not only me and Toby Kodat, but Alcaraz and Holger. There were so many. Hamad Medjedovic, Musetti was a year older than us. All these guys, Arnaldi,” Damm said. “There were so many guys that were so darn good at such a young age. I think a lot of people didn't really realise or think about it until now after the success these young guys have had, what… an obviously very talented generation we had back then. And now a lot of them are doing great.”

For some players, it would be tough to watch the likes of Alcaraz and Rune become two of the very best players on the ATP Tour within a few years of defeating them. But that has not been the American’s mindset.

“Luckily, for me, it was more of a motivation. Obviously it sometimes brings you down a little bit, just seeing where they are and where you are and where you guys were a few years back,” Damm said. “But it's extremely motivating. Some of the things maybe aren't super realistic, maybe not for everyone. But it definitely pushes me to get better and work harder every day and it shows that these [things are] totally doable.”

^{Photo: Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour}
Someone who has been involved in Damm’s development for the past several years is Jimmy Arias, the IMG Academy Director of Tennis. Once a prodigy himself, he has been in Damm’s shoes as a top junior and thinks highly of the 20-year-old.

“It's frustrating working with Martin, I think, because you see the tools that make you have visions of this guy can be No. 1 in the world, a Top 5 in the world kind of talent,” Arias said. “You don't often get someone 6'8", left-handed, who runs very fast. He is athletic. You don't normally get that set of tools to start with. And his father was a player as well, so he's been brought up in the game and all that sort of stuff. All the pieces seem to be in place.

“But I feel like because he was physically gifted and big at such a young age, when he was playing the juniors, pure power was enough. Guys couldn't handle the pace of his shots. So he won easily without having to work hard on some of the finer things of fitness and court position, or any of that sort of stuff.”

The former World No. 5 explained that in the juniors, Damm just needed to serve 130 miles per hour — not necessarily in the corner in the box — and that would often be good enough. His booming lefty serve will make fans draw comparisons to Ben Shelton.

But he has not rocketed up the PIF ATP Rankings quite as quickly and is at a career-high No. 204.

“It's been a longer road to get him to sort of buy into being a little bit more of a professional and it's maybe finally starting to come to fruition. Now he's listening a little bit more. That was the best match I've seen him play — against Zhang — that I've ever seen him play,” Arias said.

“It's tough when Alcaraz and Rune were guys that he was playing against and he beat them. And all of a sudden they went past him so quickly, he could barely blink. So I think part of that was he was doubting whether he'd ever be able to play. And I think he's starting to get some of that confidence now.”

With the tools he has at his disposal, Damm is in good position to climb further. He will try to make his biggest splash yet in Miami against Paul.

“It's amazing. Super, super excited,” Damm said. “These are things that you work hard for and dream of and kind of envision playing these matches. Obviously, it's a hard task. But at the same time, I've got absolutely nothing to lose.”