'Looking like an amateur', Rincon takes rocky path to first Challenger title

Walking on court holding a carry-on bag with just three racquets, borrowed strings and grips, Daniel Rincon will not soon forget his title run at last week’s ATP Challenger Tour event in Tampere.

His luggage was lost while travelling from the Amersfoort Challenger to Finland, forcing him to scramble for equipment until he was reunited with his bag before his quarter-final match.

“It was a crazy week. I was going with a little bag on court, I was looking like an amateur player going to practise on a Sunday,” Rincon told ATPTour.com, while cracking a laugh. “Just with three t-shirts and going to do laundry every day.”

Somehow Rincon’s bag was the only piece of luggage that was misplaced by the airline. The Spaniard’s coach Jorge Hernando and doubles partner Inigo Cervantes avoided the misfortune.

“I was the only one waiting there in Tampere,” Rincon said. “The first three, four days, they couldn’t find it. I was calling everyone and they couldn’t find anything, so I asked the stringers there if they had strings similar to mine, and they did.”

Despite the early chaos, the 21-year-old Rincon eventually claimed his first ATP Challenger Tour title, becoming the youngest Spanish champion since last July (Pablo Llamas Ruiz). The 2021 US Open boys’ singles champion, who usually brings five racquets on court with him, had only three of his Yonexs until Friday.

“I called Yonex and they sent me my string, but I already won two matches with different strings, so I kept playing with those the whole tournament,” Rincon said. “I think the luggage arrived Friday morning, so then I had clothes to play in without going to do laundry every day.”

^{Daniel Rincon is the sixth different Spaniard to win a Challenger title this season. Credit: Tampere Open}

Rincon was forced to play with a thinner string than what he prefers, usually opting for 1.25 mm string in the mains and 1.30 mm string in the crosses. Rincon was instead using 1.25 mm in both the mains and crosses as his reel of string was somewhere between the Netherlands and Finland.

When Rincon’s luggage arrived before his quarter-final match, he had a decision to make: continue with the setup he has adapted to or go back to what is more familiar?

“I said, ‘It’s going well, I’m not going to change it,’” Rincon said. “And now I don’t really know what to do. I’m thinking about it, but I think I’m going to go back to my normal strings. Just too many risks to change.”

‘Dani’ fondly remembers a key turning point in his dream week. Trailing 1-4 to Dutch qualifier Jelle Sels in a second-round match that was interrupted by rain, frustration turned to laughter when Rincon’s coach Hernando delivered a memorable one-liner.

“I was super pissed, super negative,” Rincon said. “I went off court and my coach asked me, ‘Look, what’s wrong? You are too negative, it’s just 1-4 and it’s a three-set match!’ I said, ‘Everything is going wrong. The weather is so bad today. I’m playing so bad. I don’t even have my luggage. This week is just so bad, I don’t want to play.’

“He was like, ‘Well, if you are going to be this negative, even the bar that you are eating is going to feel bad for you’. That made me laugh and I started playing better, a bit more positive.”

There may have been panic at the start of the week, but all's well that ends well. A 2021 graduate of the Rafa Nadal Academy who grew up playing junior tournaments with countryman Carlos Alcaraz, Rincon is up 15 places to a career-high World No. 164 in the PIF ATP Rankings following his triumph. Rincon and Cervantes also lifted the Tampere doubles title.

“I’m really happy, but I think it was more of a relief actually than being happy because last year I lost five times in the semi-finals and this year hasn’t been a great year so far. I didn’t get too many points until now,” Rincon said. “I think it’s more of a relief than actual happiness.”