Terrific Thompson Top of His Tennis Game
Hills tennis ace Jordan Thompson is having the time of his life on the court, this week banking his biggest pay cheque of half a million dollars despite falling to his close friend Alex De Minaur in the round of 16 at the US Open.
Before he bowed out of the singles at the US Open earlier this week, Jordan, 30, played some of his finest tennis of his career to stun world number seven Hubert Hurkacz and Italian seed Matteo Arnaldi, both in straight sets. “It’s no doubt that the best tennis I’ve played is this year in my career,” Thompson told Stan Sports.
“Hopefully I can just keep improving, keep looking after the body. You see guys playing well into their 30s now, so hopefully I can do that as well.” “It’s a great tournament; three straight-sets wins over quality players as well – I mean, I beat Hubi, beat Matteo as well, both in straight sets – playing some of the best tennis I’ve played. “Just ran into a tough opponent (de Minaur). Still, (I) had my chances and didn’t quite get there, but I take a lot of confidence out of that.”
The former Oakhill College student has rocketed up the ATP ranking to a career-high 29 after his exploits at the last Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadow, NY. Thompson is also playing doubles with the in-form Max Purcell, the duo moving into the quarterfinals of the US Open (at the time of writing).
In a gripping match, world number 10 De Minaur saw off Thompson 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 to enter the quarterfinals, showing no mercy to his Davis Cup mate. Incidentally, De Minaur credits Thompson for helping him out during their early days in Sydney when the latter was moving into the professional ranks.
“He (Jordan) was the guy I was looking up to and he’s always given me a lot of time,” de Minaur told the ABC. “He has helped me a lot …I’ve learned a lot through him, even though he was playing the pros, the slams and I was still in the juniors.”
Thompson, the second-ranked Australian tennis player, said before his clash with de Minaur that, “it is tough to play a mate, but it is not the end of the world.”
Thompson, coached by Marinko Matosevic, is now set to be seeded at a Grand Slam event for the first time at the Australian Open in January 2025.
He has now banked nearly $7 million from his tennis career, having turned pro in 2013. This year alone, the brilliant tennis player has earned more than $1.1 million from his wins in the ATP circuit, including a memorable quarterfinal win over the mercurial Rafael Nadal at the 2024 Brisbane International.
