Zverev – and then?
In the night from Saturday to Sunday, Alexander Zverev (24) plays his round of 16 at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Regardless of the outcome, he is fighting his way to the top of the world rankings bit by bit. The Olympic champion outshines a great misery in German tennis. Because behind the hamburger there is hardly anything.
The situation: Jan-Lennard Struff (31) is the second best German 52nd in the world. National coach Michael Kohlmann (48): “That’s not good, you have to question that.”
For him, the substructure is important. Daniel Altmaier (23) is the boy’s greatest hope in 87th place. But: He has been seen as a talent for five years. Light and shadow are the only constants for him, as is the case with Rudi Molleker (21), currently number 380.
Kohlmann: “I still say: German tennis is not on the abyss. Not just because of Zverev. We had three men in the round of 16 of the US Open and played in the Davis Cup semi-finals without Zverev.”
Nevertheless, apart from Zverev and Altmaier, there is only one other U25 player in the top 300: Nicola Kuhn (21) as 251.
Kohlmann’s solution: “We have to question whether we only support children up to 18 years of age. Why does the system stop there when young people graduate from high school? The college system in the US goes to 22 including education.”
The situation is similar for women. All three Germans were eliminated in the first round. Kerber, Petkovic and Maria – all 34 years old. The off spring? Far away.
Women’s tennis boss Barbara Rittner (48): “It’s like this for us: learning tennis takes time. Skateboarding or climbing is cooler and you are rewarded faster with successes.”
And: “The new generation also has less stamina. Distracted, especially by social media, many lose focus.”
Talents from other countries seem to have a better handle on this. Ideas from the crisis are sought. They shouldn’t be found in ten years, when Zverev is in the final phase of his career.
