Alexander Waske at "Kasi Live": "Rafael Nadal was still calculable at the time"
Alexander Waske alias “Mr Davis Cup” was honored again on “Kasi Live” on Thursday after his appearance the day before had been very short due to time constraints. Far too short for Waske, whose career has included so many stories ...
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Apr 10, 2020, 03:57 pm
But that was not planned with the tennis career, as he told Kasi. Waske first came up with the idea of trying tennis on college tennis. “It was never my goal to become a professional. I was always convinced that I am not good enough. And had a long list of people who told me that too, ”recalls Waske. “I was 21 years old and number 199 in the German ranking. There is nothing to be said for becoming a professional. "
A big victory then gave the turn - "against Robert Kendrick, then number 2 in America", said Waske, who also needed a lot of persuasion from his coaches.
There were also reasons why he mostly became known as a double player, especially in the Davis Cup. Namely financial when he started trying professional tennis. "I had to see that I was somehow funding it. So I played a lot of doubles. In Mexico because it was near San Diego, where I was still in college. "
Patrik Kühnen gives the decisive tip
Later, in the Davis Cup in the 2000s, Waske was ultimately Germany's double player - and crowd favorite. The advice to get into the team over the double came from Patrick Kühnen, then coach of the B squad in the DTB. There is no way around Haas, Kiefer or Schüttler, Kühne predicted at the time. When he became Davis Cup team principal two years later, Waske finally made it into the team.
The 45-year-old still remembers the first game in Sundern against Belarus: he had trained well throughout the week and had not returned to the field during the last training session. "Could be scarce," he thought. The team meeting was finally at 7.30 p.m., “and I thought: if it knocks a quarter of an hour before, I'll be out. Because I believed that Patrik is a good captain who doesn't tell you that in front of the assembled crew. "And Kühnen knocked ..." Patrik is still laughing today because I told him that I respect his decision - but I think he is here makes a mistake. "
"He doesn't play tennis anymore"
The first mission came against Israel. At the side of Tommy Haas, who was not really enthusiastic about the debutant. "All week I was asked whether I was a stringer or a masseur," recalls Waske. After 0: 2 sets Haas approached him and said: Now you play in Waske's way. That worked - Waske and Haas won in five sets against the world-class team Ram / Erlich. Waske's Davis Cup record at the end of his career: 7-1 in doubles and 1-0 in singles.
It was also the Davis Cup that almost ended Waske's career. He had already struggled with elbow problems, but still competed for the Davis Cup semi-final in Moscow in 2007, with Philipp Petzschner against Youzhny / Tursunov. "I served a serve, then Peng did it in my arms." Nobody wanted him to give up, "I only served plums and Petzsche took over". The two won, "but I couldn't push the doorknob anymore."
The physio then saw the arm and judged: "He doesn't play tennis anymore." He had tried everything for four years, said Waske, finally tried his luck with miracle healers, "but basically this Davis Cup has my career completed."
Waske: Individual victory over Nadal in Halle
But Waske also celebrated great victories in singles: against Juan Martin del Potro in his early days in a future tournament, "but he was still limited there, not the Juan Martin del Potro, who ultimately won the US Open". Or Carlos Moya, who had taken him lightly back then and danced without a bag "my first top ten win, incredibly important for me". And of course: against Rafael Nadal in 2005 after he had just won the French Open for the first time.
"I had been there since Wednesday and thought: If I hit him at some point, then now. But even then Nadal was still limited, could not serve outside when it was first served, and happened 99 percent cross on the backhand. He was calculable. "Waske's recipe:" All the time I only made the backhand return to the serve, always played him flat in the forehand. And if I had a short ball, I would go to the backhand and cross-close. Relatively simple game setup against him, and that worked. "Result: 4: 6, 7: 5, 6: 3 for Waske - who thus became the" French Open winner-conqueror ".
On Friday at 6 p.m. at "Kasi Live without Kasi": guest presenter Sascha Bajin with Ashley Harkleroad (who is now training her daughter), Thommy Thiele (coach from Maria Sakkari) and Tobias Simon ("unofficial aces world record holder and most beautiful tennis player of the World, "says Bajin. Switch on Instagram at tennisnetnews !