Alum Andre Goransson Makes Davis Cup Run With Sweden
BERKELEY – Andre Goransson looked right at home at the Hellman Tennis Complex.
Sitting in the stands at the home of the California men's tennis team last week, the former Golden Bear star and current professional player was back in the Bay Area during a break in his schedule.
Goransson – who played at Cal from 2014-17 – is having arguably his best year as a pro, competing in Wimbledon and the US Open and earning a career-best doubles ranking of 64th (in November) in 2021. Goransson – now ranked 65th – will also play in the Australian Open for the first time in January.
The San Francisco-based Cal alumnus chatted about playing for Sweden in his country's recent run to the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Spain.
Competing in Madrid, Sweden opened Group B play with a 3-0 win over Canada on Nov. 25. Leading 2-0, the Swedes wrapped up the match when Goransson and Robert Lindstedt defeated Vasek Popisil and Brayden Schnur, 7-6(5), 6-4, in doubles.
"The Canada match was memorable," said Goransson, 27, who first competed in the Davis Cup in 2019. "It was my first win for Sweden in Davis Cup, and it was a great atmosphere. That was an amazing feeling."
On Nov. 27, Sweden split with Kazakhstan in singles to start its final group match 1-1, with the result coming down to doubles. The Swedes lost when Goransson and Lindstedt fell to Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov, 6-3, 6-3.
While Kazakhstan advanced to the quarterfinals as a group winner, Sweden moved on to the knockout stage as one of the best second-place finishers in the tournament. In the quarterfinals, the Swedes lost twice in singles to the Russian Tennis Federation – they didn't play doubles – to fall, 2-0, to the eventual Davis Cup champion.
"It was still really cool when we played the Russian Tennis Federation," Goransson said. "That match when (Sweden's) Elias (Ymer) played (Andrey) Rublev was a really, really good match. He was so close to beating the No. 5 player in the world. It was really exciting to be a part of that."
Ymer lost a tight battle to Rublev, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(3).
Next up for Goransson are tuneups for the Australian Open, including the Adelaide International, and then the first Grand Slam of the New Year. He'll partner with Israel's Jonathan Erlich Down Under.
Goransson said that playing with his Swedish teammates reminded him of the camaraderie he experienced while playing at Cal, which is a feeling he doesn't often have given the solitary nature of pro tennis.
"I kind of missed that a little bit, having your teammates around," he said. "You only play for yourself in juniors, then you come to college and you get to feel that team aspect, and then you're tossed out again, and you're alone. I play doubles, so I still have a partner. But it's different having teammates on the side of the court, cheering for you, and you're all together. I was definitely reminded of my college years, which had a lot of great memories for me."