Ups and downs in February

The month started phenomenally with Fabian and me winning the title together in Koblenz, originally a week's break was planned afterwards. On the way home we received a call from the ATP that we had moved into the Montpellier tournament as runners-up! Montpellier is an ATP 250 tournament, only ATP 500s, Masters and Grand Slams are ranked higher. Such a tournament is correspondingly high-caliber; the singles tableau included Jannik Sinner, Roberto Bautista Agut and Holger Rune, among others. Fabian has already gained more ATP experience, for me it was only my second participation in an ATP tournament after qualifying at the 500 ATP in Basel, and my first time in the main draw. After a stressful day of travel, we arrived in Montpellier on Sunday evening. The facility is located directly at the airport and the center court is impressive. That immediately spurred us on and the first training session was arranged the next morning at 9 a.m. with Tim Pütz and Kevin Krawietz.

The shock came during this training session: after a return, Fabian suddenly felt enormous pain. He had to stop training and went straight to the local physiotherapist. After a long time back and forth we had to move back 2 days later. Fabian flew straight home to have an MRI. As of today we don't know how long he will have to take a break due to injury. We are in regular contact and I am confident that he will recover as quickly as possible. However, I now have to look for new doubles partners for the rest of the spring. As is often the case in life, drastic experiences are often very close together. The first joint title and the first joint ATP main draw, and one day later the injury shock. Fabian is a tough guy and is in the best hands medically; he will be back on the pitch as quickly as possible and stronger.

The tournament planning was over for now, I was very lucky that Niklas Schell had time at short notice and competed with me in Cherbourg and Rovereto. Niklas and I reached our first Challenger final in Cherbourg in 2022, which brought back nice memories. We are teammates in Bad Vilbel and have already achieved success together on the ITF Tour. In Cherbourg we were able to reach the semi-finals, but were then narrowly defeated by the eventual tournament winners Manafov/Liutarevich. In the first rounds we played in the Tourlaville side hall, probably the fastest hard court on the tour. With 2 wins (as in 2022) we are still undefeated there, but unfortunately we still have to wait for our first win on the Center Court in Cherbourg. During the week in Cherbourg I also realized how pleasant it can be to play a tournament for the second time. You know the city and one or two hotspots, and I already knew that we had a very small hotel. A good contrast after the Marriott in Montpellier 😉

After Cherbourg I was able to play another team match in Hamburg. I was also able to meet two old school/university friends there. Then we went via Stuttgart to Rovereto. Good food, good coffee and another good tournament week. Niklas and I reached the semi-finals. The 2 weeks with Nikki were a lot of fun, he is now concentrating more on his individual career, but we will definitely play together again soon. At the latest in the 2nd Bundesliga in the summer. For me it continues in Pau at the 2 Challenger with Denys Molchanov, after which I will start playing together with Constantin Frantzen.

Finally, as always, a training drill for you: the Pete Sampras Drill. This time you need a partner. You make first and second serves, and your partner has to tell you where you should serve shortly before you hit the ball. The drill is intended to help you be able to throw a ball in all directions. I have an example video for you here.

Feel free to write to me on Instagram how you like this drill.

With sporty greetings

Hendrik