2 years make a big difference

Around 2 years ago in June 2021, the worst of the corona pandemic was over, a strange time for all of us. In the summer of 2021, the final push to get my tennis career off the ground began. I successfully completed my bachelor's degree in 2017 and wasn't able to play much due to injuries.

In 2018 I was also plagued by injuries, in 2019 I was able to bring a minimal amount of momentum into my tennis career, 2020 was the Corona year, 2021, at almost 26, it was time for sporting and financial success, otherwise I would have had to completely readjust myself . Due to the pandemic, my ranking position of around 1100 in the world in singles was frozen until the end of the year.

I was able to celebrate a few successes in doubles during my first years as a professional, but I was also often eliminated very early. The prospect of only playing doubles never really occurred to me. I had never thought about it either, to be honest, it was only when I played my first Challenger main draw in Pau at the end of 2021 that I realized for the first time that professional life can also have nice sides. At the university in San Diego, life was very varied and exciting, and the studies also challenged you mentally. On the Future Tour, you play on small pitches, often in the provinces, the halls are ice cold and there are poor training conditions.

However, the opponents are strong and hardened. Week after week I failed on the Future Tour, and the question quickly arose: “What am I actually doing with my life here?” If I don’t even manage to play my way through the Futures. I stuck with it, but a lot of things paralyzed me. Sideshows and little excuses got in my way, and in singles I had to accept that the others were simply better. I had given myself an ultimatum for the 2021 season: if I play badly, I will stop being a tennis professional.

And I played badly, I couldn't win a single ATP point in singles in 2021. More or less for fun, after the Hessenliga season, I played doubles with my teammate Niklas Schell in Überlingen. We won the title out of nowhere, and then a few weeks later the next Future title in Plaisir. Doubles was still just in the back of my mind, I wanted to quit tennis despite the small successes in doubles.

It was only the atmosphere at the Challenger in Pau that made me want to continue again. Niklas and I were able to almost beat a top 100 doubles team there, and a few weeks later I was even able to reach a doubles semi-final on the Challenger Tour in Forli. With the success came the desire for more, and for 2022 I decided to play singles and doubles. But with more focus on the doubles. At the first tournament of 2022 in Bagnoles de lÓrne, a small spa town in France, I was able to get another ATP point in singles. This week I caught the coronavirus for the first time and it meant a 2 week break. A small setback, but it's part of the roller coaster of professional sports. After the break, I was lucky enough to get into the Challenger in Cherbourg with Niklas, which was a great opportunity given my rank of around 400 in the world at the time.

With good circumstances and fighting spirit, we were able to reach the final in Cherborug. It was a brutal atmosphere, and after this match it was clear to me that there was still a perspective for my tennis career. In 2022 I was able to reach many finals on the Challenger Tour and very quickly established myself as a good Challenger doubles player. In 2023 came the first 3 Challenger titles, participation in ATP tournaments and entry into the top 100 in the world in doubles. Analyzes from year to year are often very critical, but two years can mean much more.