Andrea Petkovic and Nastasja Schunk: Two tennis generations in the Porsche Team Germany
Andrea Petkovic and Nastasja Schunk : One is the most experienced, the other the youngest player in Porsche Team Germany at the final of the Billie Jean King Cup.
by PM
last edit:
Nov 01, 2021, 12:08 pm
When Andrea Petkovic played for Germany in the Fed Cup for the first time on April 22, 2007, she had to wait a long time for her performance. Only when her team led 3-1 against Croatia was she allowed to play in the final doubles together with Tatjana Malek. “Nobody was really interested anymore, most of the viewers had already left,” she recalls. “But we gave everything and fought for every ball, and when we finally won, we were so proud and happy as if we had just become world champions.” Back then, Nastasja Schunk had nothing in mind with tennis. She still went to kindergarten.
This week they will play the final in the Billie Jean King Cup with Porsche Team Germany . Andrea Petkovic is 34 and is in the line-up of the German Tennis Association (DTB) for the 18th time. Nastasja Schunk is 18 and is here for the first time. Whether it is also used in Prague is of secondary importance to her. “It's a great honor for me to be there. I'm happy and try to gain as much experience as possible, ”says the Mainz native, who is being promoted in the Porsche Talent Team and is being prepared for a professional career.
First WTA tournament: Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
She did not expect the call from national coach Rainer Schüttler , just as little as she expected that she would get off to a flying start this season: At the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, she celebrated her premiere on the WTA Tour in April, at the WTA At the tournament in Karlsruhe in September she reached the quarter-finals completely surprisingly. She has also won two important titles on the ITF Tour. The highlight, however, was Wimbledon: At the most famous tennis tournament in the world, she reached the junior women's final. "This season," she says, "went a lot better than I had hoped."
How much better can be seen from the numbers: The Wimbledon final was still a long way off when she set herself the goal of making it into the top 400 in the world rankings at the beginning of the year. An ambitious undertaking, after all, she was still in position 943. And now? Now she is number 297, so she has improved by an incredible 646 places. No wonder that, with all the modesty she usually shows, she says: "I am more than satisfied with this year and very happy that I was so successful."
"In sport you have to stay hungry and curious"
For Andrea Petkovic, her double appearance against Croatia was a decisive experience. She was 19 at the time and says today: “This experience shaped me and gave me the motivation to fight and not give up when I was injured.” She likes to share such experiences with young players. When she first met Nastasja Schunk during a joint training session with the Porsche Talent Team at the performance center in Stuttgart-Stammheim, she “immediately noticed that she listens very well and tries to learn. The most important thing in sport is that you always stay hungry and curious. ”Even if it is not enough for her for the first time in Prague: To experience such a big event as the Billie Jean King Cup up close, plus the great atmosphere that The atmosphere in the hall and the solidarity in the team - Andrea Petkovic considers all of this to be an important experience: "When she is on the pitch at some point, she already knows what to expect and is emotionally prepared for it."
Andrea Petkovic is convinced that young players like Nastasja Schunk are under much more pressure than was the case in their early days. This is due to the increasing professionalism and the large amount of money that can be earned in tennis. Nevertheless, she also sees advantages for the new generation. “If you couldn't afford a trainer in my time, then you were unlucky or had to run to the library,” she says. “Today you can get information much more easily through the Internet, for example about mental meditation or autogenic training. We had never heard of that before. "
Better promotion of young talent
The promotion of young talent has also improved enormously, not least thanks to supporters like Porsche. The environment in which the talents operate is far more professional than it was in their time. In Stuttgart-Stammheim, the players have a great infrastructure, a fitness trainer and a physio. That is a big difference from back then, she says with a smile: "When I went to physio for the first time, I was an estimated 24."
What hasn't changed over the years is the talent, ambition and discipline that a tennis career takes. According to Andrea Petkovic, Nastasja Schunk has everything to get far on the long way to the top of the world. She doesn't mind the fact that after training or a match for the remote high school diploma, when other teenagers go to the cinema or to partying, as much as the many trips and the lonely evenings in hotel rooms. “I like to be out and about,” she says. “Of course I also enjoy being at home with my family. But after a week I'm already looking forward to the next tournament. "
Andrea Petkovic has also seen young players who have not put it away so easily. “It was a shock for them to be away from home all the time. Some can't cope with it and stop after the first year on the tour, ”she says. What good advice does she have for young players? “Don't take defeat too much to heart. There is already a new tournament next week in which they can prove themselves again. But that's easier said than done. "