Dane Sweeny’s euphoric breakthrough at Melbourne
The 5’7“ Australian ranked No. 182 unleashed a down-the-line forehand to topple Gael Monfils, blending gratitude and grit in a career-defining upset at the Australian Open.
On Melbourne’s sun-drenched hard courts, Dane Sweeny crouched, muscles coiled, as match point hung in the air against the crowd’s beloved Gael Monfils. The 24-year-old Australian, standing just 5’7” and ranked No. 182, had battled through Monfils’s elastic retrieves and sly drop shots all afternoon. With a surge of adrenaline, he unleashed a heavy forehand down the line, the ball skimming the sideline for a clean winner, collapsing the Frenchman’s resistance in an instant.
Sweeny tumbled backward onto the court, his racquet flying meters away, hat tossed aside in jubilation. He pressed his hands to his face, then stretched out, letting the roar of the Rod Laver Arena faithful envelop him. This triumph marked only his second main-draw match at a major, a far cry from the five-set heartbreak against Francisco Cerundolo at Melbourne Park two years earlier.
“Euphoric, I would say. A bit of disbelief. it’s a pretty incredible feeling. Hasn’t quite sunk in,” Sweeny told ATPTour.com of his victory against the Frenchman. “But just a lot of gratitude, a lot of gratitude, that’s all I can say. I just feel extremely lucky and fortunate, it’s an overwhelming feeling.”
Gratitude anchors the pressure
The Australian Open‘s intensity pressed down on Sweeny like the midday heat, nerves flickering as he stepped onto the big stage. Yet gratitude overrode the tension, keeping his shoulders loose amid the baseline exchanges. He smiled through the rallies, honoring the moment rather than buckling under it.
Monfils‘s athleticism demanded constant adaptation—low slices forcing awkward bounces, lobs testing Sweeny’s court coverage. Sweeny countered with a 1–2 pattern, his mid-120s serve kicking up awkwardly before an inside-out forehand yanked the Frenchman off balance. That mindset, more overwhelming than any anxiety, turned the crowd’s energy into fuel, allowing him to enjoy the fight without the weight of expectations crushing his swing.
“it’s just the gratitude. That was more overwhelming than anything else, just to be out there playing in front of a crowd,” Sweeny said. “Yes, I was nervous, but more I just felt absolutely honoured to play in front of a crowd and to be able to play tennis on the big stage. So, yes, there were a lot of nerves. But again, more than the nerves, I just felt totally lucky and grateful.”
“I think that kept me smiling, kept me lighthearted, and that kept me really enjoying the moment, not being too overwhelmed and taking it too seriously.”
Humor lightens the underdog path
Earlier in Brisbane’s sticky humidity, Sweeny had faced another towering challenge in the 6’11” Reilly Opelka, his serves booming like thunder over the net. Straight sets fell his way to the American, but Sweeny refused to fade into frustration—instead, he snatched a chair, climbed atop it for a proper embrace at net, channeling the spirit of Dudi Sela‘s legendary stunt against Ivo Karlovic, 16 inches his elder.
“I’m just trying to not be overly serious with my tennis,” Sweeny said at the time. “And I told the boys, my friends, that at the end of the match, I would do the Dudi Sela. Dudi Sela did it to Karlovic a while ago. So I thought that was pretty iconic and he’s 16 inches taller and I thought it’d be pretty funny.”
That playful resilience carried into Melbourne, where the hard courts’ quick bounce favored power but rewarded Sweeny’s agility. Against Monfils, he dipped low for returns, using crosscourt backhands to stretch the court before stepping inside for aggressive inside-in forehands. The season’s grind—from qualifiers to challengers—had honed this lightness, transforming physical mismatches into mental edges, his error rate dipping below 20 percent in clutch games.
Old sparks ignite new rivalry
Sweeny’s rising profile now collides with a familiar face in eighth seed Ben Shelton, their paths crossing back in July 2021 at an ITF World Tennis Tour event in Champaign, Illinois. There, amid the Futures circuit’s raw energy, Sweeny had dove full stretch against Strong Kirchheimer, ripping a topspin forehand crosscourt winner on a pivotal break point that buzzed through the small crowd.
“I think that was one of the best shots that I’ve hit, actually, maybe he saw it. Hopefully that intimidates him a bit,” Sweeny said, cracking a laugh. “If it’s the one I’m thinking of, I was playing Strong Kirchheimer, and it was a big point — maybe a break point in the third set, or deuce, — maybe on his serve. He came into my forehand and I went diving, topspin forehand crosscourt winner.”
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Dane Sweeny,” Shelton said on ESPN. “I only played two or three Futures, but one of them he was there. I remember… I played in Champaign, Illinois. He was there and everyone was talking about him because he hit a diving forehand pass winner, so he’s one of those guys that can light up a crowd.”
Shelton’s lefty serve-volley game, honed to Top-10 precision since his 2023 quarterfinal run here, thrives on these Plexicushion surfaces, averaging 130 mph blasts that pin opponents deep. Sweeny respects the American’s stage command, his fist pumps echoing through the arena like declarations of dominance. “Pretty incredible. He’s done it super quickly. He plays with a lot of confidence and kind of owns the stage and that’s his X-factor. He doesn’t shy away from the moment. He’s obviously got an unbelievable serve, and he’s risen up the ranks very quickly. it’s for good reason, he’s a phenomenal player,” Sweeny said.
Yet Sweeny stays rooted, probing with underspin backhands to neutralize those aces, forcing rallies where his quick feet and precise angles can exploit any wide positioning. The rankings chasm looms large, but gratitude keeps him present, controlling the controllables on a stage that amplifies every dive and roar. As Melbourne’s nights cool and the draw deepens, this underdog’s lighthearted fire promises more twists, where a single well-timed shot could rewrite the tournament’s pulse.
