ATP Tour

Dane Sweeny: Euphoria, disbelief & a legendary shot that lives in Shelton's mind

Dane Sweeny might only be 5’7”, but the Australian stood very tall Tuesday in the biggest moment of his life. With match point against fans’ favourite and former Top 10 star Gael Monfils, the 24-year-old showed his courage one final time on the day, unleashing a huge forehand winner up the line.

The No. 182 player in the PIF ATP Rankings fell to his back, chucked his racquet several metres away and then did the same to his hat. Sweeny covered his face momentarily, took a deep breath and laid on the court, absorbing the moment.

“Euphoric, I would say. A bit of disbelief. It's a pretty incredible feeling. Hasn't quite sunk in,” Sweeny told ATPTour.com of his victory against the Frenchman. “But just a lot of gratitude, a lot of gratitude, that's all I can say. I just feel extremely lucky and fortunate, it's an overwhelming feeling.”

Gratitude was the word Sweeny kept coming back to. This is someone who had previously played just one main-draw match at a major — a heartbreaking five-set defeat at Melbourne Park to Francisco Cerundolo two years ago — and he had found a way to upset a notoriously tough battler in Monfils.

“It's just the gratitude. That was more overwhelming than anything else, just to be out there playing in front of a crowd,” Sweeny said. “Yes, I was nervous, but more I just felt absolutely honoured to play in front of a crowd and to be able to play tennis on the big stage. So, yes, there were a lot of nerves. But again, more than the nerves, I just felt totally lucky and grateful.

“I think that kept me smiling, kept me lighthearted, and that kept me really enjoying the moment, not being too overwhelmed and taking it too seriously.”

It is not the first time this year that Sweeny had shown that mindset on the court. After losing in straight sets to 6’11” Reilly Opelka in Brisbane, the Aussie grabbed a chair to stand on in order to embrace the American.

"I'm just trying to not be overly serious with my tennis,” Sweeny said at the time. “And I told the boys, my friends, that at the end of the match, I would do the Dudi Sela. Dudi Sela did it to Karlovic a while ago. So I thought that was pretty iconic and he's 16 inches taller and I thought it'd be pretty funny.”

Sweeny does not have much experience at this level yet, but he is a familiar face to eighth seed Ben Shelton. The big-serving lefty remembers Sweeny from one of the first ITF World Tennis Tour events he played in July 2021.

“I think that was one of the best shots that I’ve hit, actually, maybe he saw it. Hopefully that intimidates him a bit,” Sweeny said, cracking a laugh. “If it's the one I'm thinking of, I was playing Strong Kirchheimer, and it was a big point — maybe a break point in the third set, or deuce, — maybe on his serve. He came into my forehand and I went diving, topspin forehand crosscourt winner.”

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Dane Sweeny,” Shelton said on ESPN. “I only played two or three Futures, but one of them he was there. I remember… I played in Champaign, Illinois. He was there and everyone was talking about him because he hit a diving forehand pass winner, so he’s one of those guys that can light up a crowd.”

Shelton can do the same, and Sweeny is well aware of that. The American made the Australian Open quarter-finals on his tournament debut in 2023 and has developed into a Top-10 force.

“Pretty incredible. He's done it super quickly. He plays with a lot of confidence and kind of owns the stage and that's his X-factor. He doesn't shy away from the moment. He's obviously got an unbelievable serve, and he’s risen up the ranks very quickly. It's for good reason, he's a phenomenal player,” Sweeny said.

“I always want to win and that's a given, but all I can do is just control what I can control, no matter how big the stage is, no matter who I'm playing. That's all I can do, so that's all I can ask myself.”