Upper West Sider Makes US Open Debut in Primetime

By Tracy Zwick

Aleksandar Kovacevic started playing tennis when he was 6 years old and living on the Upper West Side.

He developed his game early, hitting for hours against a backboard near Central Park and 97th Street, just blocks from the apartment in which he grew up with his sister, Lena, and his mom and dad, Millie and Milan.

All those hours and years of training ultimately led to juniors tournaments and a college career. Aleks is now 26 and an elite professional tennis player traveling the world on the ATP circuit, playing in front of global audiences.

Last night he finally came home, walking onto Louis Armstrong Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens where he made his first main draw US Open appearance against 20th-ranked American Francis Tiafoe.

Louis Armstrong Stadium is one of two show courts at the Open, along with Arthur Ashe Stadium. They’re the largest arenas on the grounds, and they host the highest-profile matches.

An in-form Tiafoe edged Kovacevic Monday night in four sets, despite the Upper West Sider’s 25 aces, agile returning, and an increasingly rare one-handed backhand. An advantage of being one of the only New Yorkers in the draw is that he had plenty of crowd support.

Friends, family and fans encouraged Kovacevic, a graduate of PS9, MS54 and Beacon High School, the entire match. His parents, sister and former youth tennis coach were on hand along with his current team.

Aleks has been rising in the ATP rankings since January, when he entered the top 100. He reached the Round of 16 last month at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., where he ultimately fell to Francis Tiafoe. He’s currently ranked 76th in the world.

On to Mixed Doubles

While Kovacevic’s loss last night to Tiafoe ended his run in this year’s US Open singles competition, he’ll begin his campaign in mixed doubles tomorrow. He’s partnering with 16-year-old Tyra Grant, the daughter of Tyrone Grant, a former St. John’s University basketball player. Tyra won the girls’ doubles draw at the 2023 French Open as a 15-year-old, and won the 2024 Australian Open Girls’ doubles title and the 2024 Girls’ doubles title at Wimbledon this year.

You can watch Aleks and Tyra on Wednesday in person or view their match on ESPN. The Schedule of Play for Wednesday will be released by the end of Tuesday and can be found on the US Open app.