DALLAS (SMU) - Former SMU Tennis Standout Nate Lammons completed an inspiring run at the U.S. Open on Friday after advancing to the round of 32 with doubles partner Robert Galloway.
"I'll be honest. I'm still in shock about the whole thing," said the 25-year old Lammons. "I feel so lucky that I was even given the chance to get into the tournament, let alone win a match and compete against the highest level guys there are."
While at SMU, Lammons played four years for SMU under former coach Carl Neufield. Lammons climbed to the No. 1 position late in his Mustang career as he helped the Mustangs make a run to the Sweet 16 in his senior season including upsetting No. 8 Texas Tech in the second round. Along with his on-court accomplishments, Lammons was honored with American Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete Award and was All-Academic every season. He graduated SMU with a master's in engineering in 2016.
Competing for a chance to participate in his first career Grand Slam event, Lammons was able to make the field through withdrawals as an alternate. With this opportunity, Lammons and Galloway took advantage with a decisive victory in the opening round over fellow Americans Kevin King and Reilly Opelka.
"Pretty surreal moment," remarked Lammons. "My partner, Rob, even got a little emotional on the court. You know I was feeling the same things. It's crazy to see yourself sort of playing at the biggest tennis tournament in the world and not only to play but to win a match."
In the second round, they matched up against the 11th-seeded pairing of Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers. "The energy in the match today was incredible. So many people came out. There were USA chants during the match which was crazy, almost like a miniature Davis Cup. So many people were pulling for us. I had my sister and my Dad that were able to fly in and watch. Tons of friends from around who were either going to the open or living in town, were able to stop by. So many messages of support, encouragement from friends and family." Lammons dropped the first set 6-4 and fought hard in the second before falling in a tiebreaker.
Lammons currently sits at 145 in the ATP doubles ranking, the highest position of his career. Earlier this summer, Lammons won his first title on the Challenger Tour, winning The Hague Open with partner Ruben Gonzales.
The former Mustang described what the future might hold for him. "I think this bodes well for the future. As far as tournaments down the road, I'm going to try and sign in Chicago with a guy I've been playing the last month or so with, Ruben Gonzales. And then after next week, we will go play in Europe for a little. Ruben and I were able to get a little momentum going the last month so we decided to try and play out the year. Looking forward to carrying the momentum I had with him and the momentum from the last couple days here through the year and see just how I can climb and maybe sneak into a 250 down the stretch here in the fall."
"Just feel so blessed and so lucky to be given the shot," continued Lammons. "I hope I get many more."
