Who is Leandro Riedi? More on world No 435’s ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ with Roger Federer
Leandro Riedi had to come through qualifying to reach the main draw of the 2025 US Open, but now he finds himself in the third round and he is set for a massive surge up the ATP Rankings.
Making only his second Grand Slam main draw appearance following his debut at Wimbledon, Riedi beat world No 64 Pedro Martinez in straight sets and followed it up with a stunning comeback victory over 19th seed Francisco Cerundolo.
The 23-year-old looked set for a second-round exit as he lost the first two sets 3-6, 4-6, but then staged an incredible fightback to come away with a 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win over the Argentine and he has been rewarded with a 198-place rise in the Live Rankings.
For context, the Swiss started the tournament at No 435 and is projected to be as high as No 237, but he could climb even further if he wins his next match against another surprise package in Kamil Majchrzak, who upset ninth seed Karen Khachanov.
Who Is Leandro Riedi?
Riedi was born in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, on 27 January 2002 and he decided not to follow the family tradition of becoming flight attendants as both his parents and older sister are in that profession.
“I’m the only one who didn’t continue the family routine,” he told ATPTour.com in 2024. “Nobody was into tennis. My dad just played for fun like once a month. He was playing some club matches back in the day in Switzerland. He took me with him once to the court and I enjoyed it a lot.”
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But hailing from Switzerland, the name Roger Federer is synonymous with tennis, and before he even turned professional, he had a chance to learn from the Swiss Maestro during a training camp in Dubai.
“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” the youngster told itftennis.com in January 2020. “It was unbelievable. We went to Dubai and trained with the best player of all time. I was so grateful and so happy.
“I learned a lot from Roger and practice was really fun. He gave me some great advice about how to look after my body and about the mental side of the game.
“I asked him about playing and winning in the fifth set, how hard it is and his mindset in that moment. We talked, talked and talked. It was so enjoyable.”
Not long after practising with the 20-time Grand Slam winner, Riedi enjoyed major success at junior level as he won the 2020 Australian Open boys’ doubles before finishing runner-up in the French Open boys’ singles final, losing against fellow Swiss Dominic Stricker.
Rankings Rise And Injury Woes
He finally turned professional in 2021, and he finished the year at No 693 in the ATP Rankings, before breaking into the top 200 the following year.
His peak came in 2023 when he hit a career-high No 127 with a couple of ATP Tour-level wins before bettering that in 2024 as he was as high as No 117.
But then an injury nightmare forced him to call an early end to his 2024 as he suffered a serious knee injury and had to undergo two surgeries, resulting in him missing the start of the 2025 season.
Although he dropped to No 559, he was able to use his protected ranking to gain entry into the qualifying tournament at Wimbledon and he managed to make the main draw, losing in the first round.
But he has followed that up by reaching the third round at the US Open, becoming the lowest-ranked player to reach the round of 64 since Danny Sapsford at Wimbledon in 1999.
If he ends up beating Majchrzak at Flushing Meadows, he could rise to as high as No 163.
