Loyal Bosnian Damir Dzumhur to face Federer in Paris

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  • Progress: Damir Dzumhur.

    For the first time in history, a Bosnian player will feature in the third round at Roland Garros and the magnitude of the occasion is not lost on Damir Dzumhur.

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    Less than 18 months ago, Dzumhur became the first player from Bosnia and Herzegovina to make the third round at a grand slam when he reached that stage at the 2014 Australian Open.

    He fell to Tomas Berdych, ranked No 7 at the time, but Dzumhur knows his next match in Paris will overtake that memory as the greatest thus far in his career.

    He is, after all, taking on his idol, Roger Federer, on a stadium court, at what Dzumhur considers his favourite grand slam. It doesn’t get much better than this.

    He remembers watching Federer face Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon semi-finals when he was 11 years old and he has idolised the Swiss ever since.

    “Probably the biggest player ever in tennis, and I’m really glad that I have the chance to play with him,” Dzumhur said of his upcoming match against Federer, after beating Marcos Baghdatis in the second round.  

    “That is probably dream of every player, young player who’s coming to play him, and I have this opportunity now in Roland Garros. This is the grand slam that I love the most because it’s my surface.”

    Dzumhur, 23, is ranked No 88 in the world. And while he is not the first Bosnian-native to achieve such results at grand slams, he is the only one to do so representing his country.

    The likes of US Open champion Marin Cilic and former player Amer Delic are both from Bosnia but Cilic represents Croatia and Delic was playing for the United States when he made the Australian Open third round in 2009.

    Dzumhur was born shortly after war broke out in Bosnia in a maternity hospital located near the Zetra Olympic Hall. The arena was destroyed at the time, but it was the same place where he would start practicing tennis under the tutelage of his father Nerfid. Things haven’t been easy for Dzumhur but he is proud to be the one who stayed.

    “I’m really happy that I’m one of the players coming from this small country and playing tennis and being in top 100. I mean, everything what my country went through I think is really tough for everybody. I knew it. It was tough for me to go through all this, but I did.

    “I managed somehow. I’m really happy I can represent my country on such big tournaments and the name and the flag of my country is on these big tournaments,” he says.

    “When I was young, when I was 14 and 16 I had an offer from Croatia. I didn’t go there because I was always saying that, yeah, with my parents we hope that the situation in Bosnia is going to be better and better.

    “I just don’t feel that I can go for any other country.”

    Dzumhur doesn’t train at one specific club and says he often struggles to find a court to practice on. He might relocate to Croatia or Serbia in the near future but he will not consider switching nationalities.

    He wishes there were more players coming through in Bosnia though.

    “Unfortunately behind me there is a big hole in the tennis generation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are really no players that can make some good results, something like I’ve done.

    “And I’m really sad because of that because tennis in Bosnia can be much much better. We know that we have a lot of talent, a lot of good players but we’re just not taking care of them,” he says.

    “That’s why a lot of the big talent’s going for other country. As you know Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig are both from Bosnia and Herzegovina but they are playing for Croatia, and that’s just two examples.”

    Dzumhur has one sponsor in BH Telecom and used to be backed by a pharmaceutical company, although that is no longer the case. He’s willing to go at on his own though if he has to.

    “I don’t expect much even after this result, even after more I think bigger results. But I went through all this alone and I can do it again,” he insists.

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