Center court feeling

I've been asked a lot recently how it feels to play on a big center court, whether it makes you nervous or drives you on. Whether it means something to you to play in front of a lot of people and whether the game changes due to the size of the court.

Something actually changes in terms of play; the larger outlet means that fast players have the opportunity to run out the balls better. Danil Medevedev has mastered this skill perfectly; on an average court he would not be able to easily assume his deep return position. The pace of the center courts is usually different than the rest of the courts in a tournament. Normally the center court is a little slower because the surface is repeated more often. However, there are exceptions in which the center court plays faster.

To describe the emotions, I wrote a little review for you:

In February 2022 I reached my first final on the Challenger Tour in Cherbourg, which was also one of my first Challenger tournaments. Over the course of the week, my partner Niklas Schell and I played mainly on smaller side courts. However, we watched a few matches on the center court. During the Gilles Simon vs. Ernest Gulbis match, the hall was packed.

Gilles Simon is a star in France and had announced that 2022 would be his last season as an active professional. The spectators were extremely enthusiastic about their compatriot and the atmosphere was intense. I rarely watch full matches live, but this was an exception. To date I had already played a few matches in front of a lot of spectators, but never on a real center court. On Saturday I stood on the center court in Cherbourg for the first time. Before that, we walked in with music and were introduced. The way you know it.

When I hit it I wasn't tense, but I was excited and certainly a little nervous. First final and we played against an all-French doubles in France, so there was good something going on and of course the mood was against us. The final was narrowly lost in the end, but it was still one of my most beautiful experiences.

We got off to a good start, so the tension didn't really affect the match. Over the course of the year I played more on big courts, and although it's still something special, you get into the routine of it too.

At the first title in Koblenz together with Fabian Fallert the hall was packed and very loud. I have rarely enjoyed a match as much as I did there. Winning in front of your home crowd is a feeling that's hard to describe. It makes you proud that you can inspire people with what is shown through tennis. Tennis is a business but of course also entertainment, we all always want to win, but exciting and inspiring people also gives you a lot.

All the years of training and matches in front of empty stands pay off.