ATP Tour

Sioux Falls champ Kypson's hard commit: Adding aggression to a game built on clay

Patrick Kypson grew up playing tennis on clay courts in North Carolina, a unique education for an American player, but one that has paid dividends throughout his career. His first four professional singles titles all came on the natural surface, as did his lone pro doubles trophy — a Futures title he won with Felix Auger-Aliassime in 2016.

But it was on a hard court that he won the biggest title of his career this Sunday, two days before his 26th birthday. In a thrilling final at the MarketBeat Open, an ATP Challenger 100 and USTA Pro Circuit event in Sioux Falls, Kypson earned a 6-7(2), 7-6(4), 7-5 victory against Johannus Monday, saving all six break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

The trophy is his third on the ATP Challenger Tour this season and his sixth since the start of 2023. It was also a record 20th Challenger title won by an American this season, breaking the previous high of 19 in 2006.

The triumph moved Kypson up to world No. 146, 13 spots off his career-high PIF ATP Ranking from last April, and lifted him into first place in the USTA's Australian Open Wild Card Challenge.

By committing to an attacking game plan, Kypson has developed a game that can threaten opponents on any surface.

"My tennis, I just want to continue to try and build my game around being aggressive and looking to get forward as much as I can and just continue to develop those skills in matches," he said. "I've made a huge decision or commitment to playing a certain way and just trying to hold onto that, my identity as a player, and just judge myself on how well I'm executing on that each day, each practice and each match."

While Kypson credits his clay-court upbringing with teaching him point construction, rally tolerance and movement, he has made a conscious effort to impose his tennis on opponents this season.

"I think [growing up on clay] kind of contributed to my original game style, which actually is kind of what I'm trying to transition out of and be a little bit more aggressive and come forward more," he explained. "But it definitely gives me a really good base from the baseline with what I would like to think pretty good movement and fundamentals, so I think it was definitely a positive growing up on the clay for sure."

Another big part of Kypson's education — both on the court and in the classroom — came in his year at Texas A&M, where he was an All-American and the ITA National Rookie of the Year in 2018. At College Station, he roomed with current Top 30 player Arthur Rinderknech and was also teammates with Valentin Vacherot.

Those two players, who happen to be cousins, recently squared off in the Rolex Shanghai Masters final, with Vacherot stunning the tennis world—and their group chat of former A&M teammates—by winning the title with a ranking of No. 204. For Kypson, Vacherot's success is further proof of just how high the level is on the ATP Challenger Tour and the USTA Pro Circuit.

"I think the margins are as slim as they've ever been, in terms of level differential between consistent Challenger players and consistent tour-level players. But definitely, you know, those guys [on the ATP Tour] are able to do it slightly more consistently I would say. There's a reason they're on the tour and Challenger guys are in the Challenger level. I think it's slim margins, but that consistency is one of the things I think is the differential.

"There's so many examples," he continued, discussing the success of Challenger players at the next level. "[Vacherot] was obviously an extreme example of a guy that has been primarily on the Challenger Tour and goes and wins a Masters 1000... but for sure seeing guys that I've competed with for a long time, seeing them have some runs definitely can motivate me to get up there with them and keep improving."

With a focus on attacking and an emphasis on competing hard every point, Kypson feels his game is more complete than ever, with a Top 100 breakthrough in sight.

"I think I've developed my skills more so than when I was at my career high," he said. "I know what I have to improve on and what I'm doing well, so I'm just trying to keep doubling down on those things and, you know, with that the ranking and the points take care of itself as much as it can, which is obviously easier said than done. But that's my goal."

Editor's Note: This story originally ran on USTA.com.