German tennis aims to improve 'overall' in 2025 and beyond

Going into the 2025 Australian Open, Germany's tennis stars are ageing and performances in the Grand Slams, other than those of the men's world No. 2, Alexander Zverev, haven't been much to write home about. Last year, the three German men in the top 100 not named Zverev didn't make it past the second round. No German woman went beyond the second round, although like France and the UK, they have three players in the top 100 rankings. Germany's men though, have just four in the top 100. France has 12 and Spain six. Something has got to give.

"There were waves in which we had more players in the top 100 and then fewer again. We're not happy with the current situation as a whole, but of course it's important to have Alex [Zverev] as the No. 2 in the world," chair of the German Tennis Association (DTB), Veronika Rücker, told DW.

"But the overall picture is something we need to improve. We also have a relatively high average age at the top [28 years]. If we want to be at the top of the world in the long term, we have to act now so that we can reap the rewards of this work over the next eight years."

With the help of over 80 experts across six months and comparative work, the DTB has established a new strategic approach for competitive tennis that is aimed at improving Germany's position at the top of the sport. This included comparisons with other countries and resulted in eight areas of focus, such as talent development and dual careers.

Given that tennis in Germany generally is in a good place – the DTB revealed in its annual report that for the fourth consecutive year, the number of tennis players in Germany has increased, with nearly 1.5 million members playing in just under 9,000 clubs – the key comes in converting that interest into more competitive players.

"I think the data shows that there is still interest in tennis in Germany, so the potential for talent is actually quite good," said Rücker.

"What we need to change is how long we accompany the players in their development. I think our talent selection is perhaps a little too early. I can't tell how much potential a child has if I only see them selectively. We need to spend more time observing the players' development and basically focus more on development than results," said Rücker, adding that development should not depend on where a player grows up.

Host of challenges for young hopefuls

This is made more difficult by the increased focus on results across many youth sports, but also by how challenging it is to fit competitive sport into the life of a busy teenager.

“A digital school would be great for us," Rücker said. "Tennis is a travel-heavy sport, and the tournament circuit in youth tennis goes from Tuesday to Sunday – week after week. Even though our talents would really like to be at school, it's a real challenge for the kids to keep up with the current competition calendar. We need more compatibility between school and professional sport, but frankly it's really unfortunate that we as a society aren't in a better position digitally after the pandemic."

The plan for German tennis is by 2032 to have between 8 and 10 players in the top 100 in the world, 10 women under the age of 21 in the top 400, and 10 men under the age of 23 in the top 500.

"That's ambitious, but these are the goals we have to set ourselves if we want to remain world-class," Rücker said.

Germany's women appear even closer to reaching the aforementioned goals, thanks to the emergence of some young stars as well as the arrival of Angelique Kerber as a mentor and her former coach Torben Beltz to improve the transition into the professional game.

Redefining success

Zverev, who has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons in the 12 months, is clearly the face of tennis in Germany. But having lost in the finals of both the 2020 US Open and the 2024 French Open, the 27-year-old is increasingly seen as a player who might be running out of chances to win a major. Rücker would obviously welcome a Grand Slam for Germany's star, perhaps mostly because of what that success does for the next generation.

“Sports role models have a big influence on children," Rücker said. "They then think: I want to be on the court too and I'm prepared to sacrifice a lot to get there, because it's a hard and long road to the top. We need role models for those who are at the beginning of their tennis career, but also for those who are already active in tennis."

A first Grand Slam singles title in seven years would be huge for German tennis, but success is relative for a nation working to get back to previous heights.

"How long has it been since the men's national football team last won a tournament? We can't fall into a hole every time we don't win a tournament," Rücker said.

"The competition is getting bigger and bigger and other nations have caught up. I think many of those who criticize us from the outside have no idea how hard the work and road to the top is. Look at the Australian Open now. Many of our players had to travel there before Christmas, which means they didn't even get to spend Christmas or New Year's Eve with their families. I think a lot of people don't appreciate what it means to be a professional athlete. Alex [Zverev] is No. 2 in the world, but all anyone talks about is that he hasn't won a Grand Slam title yet. Sometimes I think we're a bit ungracious when we talk about success."

Edited by: Chuck Penfold