Zachary Svajda ( ; born November 29, 2002) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 102, achieved on 26 August 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 664, achieved on 8 August 2022.
Early life and background
A native of
San Diego,
California,
Svajda took up tennis at the age of 2, initially coached by Matt Hanlin.
He is of Czech descent.
He has a younger brother
Trevor Svajda who is also a tennis player,
who is currently studying at SMU.
He earned his first ATP World Tour ranking point at the age of 15, defeating top-seeded João Lucas Reis da Silva of Brazil 6–3, 6–4 at the 2018 Claremont Club Pro Classic as a local main-draw wildcard.
Professional career
2019-2020: ATP and Grand Slam debut
On August 11, 2019, Svajda defeated
Govind Nanda 6–7
(3–7), 7–5, 6–3, 6–1 to win the USTA Boys 18s National Championship. This victory earned the 16-year-old a wildcard into the main draw of the 2019 US Open, making him the youngest player to play in the men's US Open since Donald Young in 2005.
There, despite succumbing to full-body cramps in a five-set first round loss to
Paolo Lorenzi, he drew attention as a future prospect in American professional tennis for his solid ground strokes and adept net play.
2021: First Major win at the US Open
After defeating
Ben Shelton 6–1, 6–4, 6–1 to defend his Boys 18s National Championship title, Svajda was given another wildcard into the US Open.
There, ranked world No. 716, he beat world No. 81
Marco Cecchinato to progress to the second round
before bowing out against 13th seed
Jannik Sinner in four tight sets. The latter was an unexpectedly close match between two young players with a differential in ranking of over 700 spots.
2022: Maiden Challenger title
He won his maiden title at the 2022 Tiburon Challenger defeating compatriot Ben Shelton. As a result he climbed to a career-high No. 255 on 10 October 2022.
2023: Three Challenger titles, First ATP 500 win, Top 150 debut
He recorded his first ATP win outside a Major and first at an ATP 500 tournament at the 2023 Citi Open in Washington over
Max Purcell as a qualifier.
In August, Svajda entered the main draw of the US Open also as a qualifier.
He won the 2023 Cary Challenger II.
Two weeks later, he also won the 2023 Tiburon Challenger, making him the first player to win the tournament twice.
2024: US Open wildcard
He entered the main draw at the 2024 Dallas Open as a direct entry. He also qualified for the 2024 Delray Beach Open and defeated eight seed
Max Purcell in the first round, for his second win over the Australian (first win was in previous season in Washington) and second ATP win outside of the Grand Slams. He received a qualifying wildcard for the 2024 Abierto Mexicano Telcel.
In July, he qualified for the main draw of the 2024 Hall of Fame Open and for the 2024 Atlanta Open but lost in the first rounds. He also entered the main draw at the 2024 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington as a lucky loser but lost to wildcard J. J. Wolf. In August, he received a wildcard for the main draw of the 2024 US Open. He again entered the main draw of the 2024 Winston-Salem Open as a lucky loser and defeated Laslo Djere in the first round and upset third seed Francisco Cerúndolo in the second, getting his revenge for the first round loss at the 2023 US Open, a year earlier. As a result he reached No. 102 in the singles rankings on 26 August 2024.
2025: Maiden grass court title
In July, Svajda won his first Challenger 125 title at the 2025 Hall of Fame Open, where he defeated top seed
Brandon Holt en route
[ ] before defeating fourth seed
Adrian Mannarino for the title. As a result, Svajda returned to the top 200 in the singles rankings on 14 July 2025, rising more than 75 positions.
[ ]
Grand Slam Performance timeline
Singles
|
|
Australian Open | A | A | A | A | A | Q2 | Q2 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
French Open | A | A | A | A | Q1 | Q2 | Q2 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
Wimbledon | A | NH | A | A | Q2 | Q2 | Q2 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
US Open | 1R | A | 2R | Q2 | 1R | 1R | 2R | 0 / 5 | 2–5 | |
Win–loss | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0 / 5 | 2–5 | |
ATP Masters 1000 |
Indian Wells Masters | A | NH | 1R | A | Q2 | Q2 | Q1 | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | |
Miami Open | A | NH | A | A | A | Q1 | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
Monte Carlo Masters | A | NH | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
Madrid Open | A | NH | A | A | A | Q1 | A | 0 / 0 | 0-0 | |
Italian Open | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
Canadian Open | A | NH | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
Cincinnati Open | A | A | A | A | A | Q2 | Q1 | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
Shanghai Masters | A | NH | A | 2R | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | |
Paris Masters | A | A | A | A | A | A | | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |
Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0-0 | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | |
ATP Challenger and ITF World Tennis Tour finals
Singles: 10 (9 titles, 1 runner-up)
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{class="wikitable" style=font-size:97%
!Legend
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ATP Challenger Tour (6–1) |
ITF WTT (3–0) |
|
|
Hard (8–1) |
Clay (0–0) |
Grass (1–0) |
|}
|
Win | 1–0 | | Tiburon Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard | Ben Shelton | 2–6, 6–2, 6–4 |
Win | 2–0 | | Cary Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard | Rinky Hijikata | 7–6(7–3), 4–6, 6–1 |
Win | 3–0 | | Tiburon Challenger, US (2) | Challenger | Hard | Adam Walton | 6–2, 6–2 |
Win | 4–0 | | Fairfield Challenger, US | Challenger | Hard | Nishesh Basavareddy | 6–4, 6–1 |
Loss | 4–1 | | Southern California Open, US | Challenger | Hard | Blaise Bicknell | 3–6, 2–6 |
Win | 5–1 | | Hall of Fame Open, US | Challenger | Grass | Adrian Mannarino | 7–5, 6–3 |
Win | 6–1 | | Lexington Open, US | Challenger | Hard | Bernard Tomic | 2–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
|
Win | 1–0 | | M25 Austin, US | WTT | Hard | Eduardo Nava | 6–4, 4–6, 6–4 |
Win | 2–0 | | M15 Los Angeles, US | WTT | Hard | Brandon Holt | 7–5, 6–4 |
Win | 3–0 | | M15 Fountain Valley, US | WTT | Hard | Sekou Bangoura | 6–3, 6–1 |
Notes
External links