French Open: whiz kid Daniel Altmaier - "I knew that I would go my way"
Daniel Altmaier is the sensation of the French Open 2020 - the qualifier has not yet given a sentence. Coincidence? No: His tough training program in preparation also pays off in Paris.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Oct 04, 2020, 11:48 am
Anyone looking for the name “Altmaier” in the vast expanses of the Internet will inevitably end up with Chancellor Angela Merkel's loyal helper these days. With the unmistakable Chancellery Minister Peter Altmaier. You have to add “Daniel” or “Tennis” to come across the man who is writing one of the craziest German sports stories of an already crazy year.
Daniel Altmaier , 22 years old, at home in the Lower Rhine town of Kempen, is currently the sensation number of the French Open in Paris - a young man who has now landed on Center Court from the qualifying places of the Roland Garros Stadium with a downright irritating naturalness. And who, after six wins, three of them in the application tournament, three of them in the main field, now greets him as the proud round of 16 of the largest clay court tournament in the world.
Altmaier is currently turning the tennis world upside down, after all, it is the very first Grand Slam tournament that he is allowed to serve. But no matter how they all write and talk about surprise, about the French Open fairy tale - he himself, Altmaier, does not see himself as a child prodigy: "I knew that I would go my way," he says, "sooner or later."
Altmaier: Preparation for 2020 in Argentina
Perhaps its success story began in the old year, in winter 2019/2020, when Corona was primarily still a beer type. And not a virus that paralyzed the world and also the world of sport. At that time Altmaier was in Argentina, in the home of his coach Francesco Yunis, and after all the injury-related setbacks that he had already experienced in his young career, he was able to deny "a first real preparation period" for a coming season .
Altmaier dueled himself in training with many of the best clay court specialists in the world, he also got a feeling of what it means to “keep the level of these guys all the time.” Altmaier had “great fun” with it, with this trip away from the routine. "If you want to achieve something, you also have to get out of your comfort zone," says Altmaier now in Paris, after having made a high start with a confident, well-deserved 6: 2, 7: 6 (7: 5), 6: 4- Victory over world number eight Matteo Berrettini has already fought for the French Open round of 16. The next opponent is now the solid Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, who recently benefited from Novak Djokovic's disqualification at the US Open and then lost the semifinals to Alexander Zverev after a 2-0 set lead.
Altmaier's fitness program: "More than Rocky"
Altmaier had traveled around the world for a few weeks after his training camp in winter, he was around 400th place in the ranking and was hired out at Challenger tournaments in the USA, Thailand, Australia and Mexico. He later returned to Argentina, from where he came to Germany in March “just about with the emergency plane” of the federal government. “Hardly anyone has more matches under their belt this year than me,” says Altmaier, who quickly got active again in spring and summer. And probably hardly anyone had loaded such a tough program as the boy from the Lower Rhine, who turned out to be an extremely ambitious self-optimizer in lockdown. During an 11-week training block, Argentinian fitness coaches were also connected to him via the Internet to monitor his personal exercise program. "More than Rocky in the film" he did, says Altmaier, "I was really inspired because I noticed how I could always get more out of myself."
Altmaier viewed Paris, this sudden tennis paradise for him, with an almost grotesque sobriety. He sees himself - "without arrogance" - as a natural part of this Grand Slam performance, not as a random guest. Altmaier quickly forgot, and that's a good thing, who he was and what he has achieved so far. That wasn't much, but it doesn't matter much either in the here and now. “If you are well prepared, and I am, then a lot is possible,” he says. As against Berrettini. Altmaier dissected the number eight man like a test object before defeating him by every trick in the book.
When he hit him, the Italian probably wanted to impress him with hammer-hard balls, "a kind of intimidation attempt". But in the match he noticed that Berrettini was “much more cautious, slower, more insecure”: “He shifted down a gear, was nervous.” Altmaier was not at all. The old master Boris Becker felt that he acted "as if he had been on the big tour for years and played with the top people."
Now against Carreno Busta - "Won't give him anything"
Altmaier has been in Paris for 18 days. At first he went about his work anonymously, not surprising as number 186 in the world without any particular merits. But now he has been under observation for a little longer as a steep climber, and so far it has not bothered him. What his coach, the ex-professional Yunis, demands of him to really only concentrate on the respective match, on the respective opponent and to fade out everything around, Altmaier succeeds very well. "So far, everything has been going according to plan, in a very neat line," says Altmaier.
However, he also knows that it will now be more difficult in the second week of this Grand Slam challenge. He is not a dreamer. It is quite possible that Altmaier will have to go over five sets against Carreno Busta for the first time in his life. Carreno Busta is known as someone who gives nothing to others, Altmaier was accused of in a press conference. He countered it like this: "I won't give him anything either." Busta? Basta!
Whatever the outcome of the Paris adventure, Altmaier takes the French Open as a welcome moment of awakening. He was once the greatest talent in German tennis alongside Zverev. Then came 2018, the lost year. The year he was injured, he had problems with his abdominal muscles and his shoulder. He disappeared into no man's land, dropped in the rankings. But on the smaller tennis tour, at the largely unobserved Challenger tournaments, he began his long march through the institutions, back to the top of the world. Roland Garros 2020 now accelerated this mission, the clay court major in autumn acted like a catapult. Altmaier is suddenly on everyone's lips, in the pecking order he is coming close to the top 100 for the first time. “But it's only the beginning, not the end,” says Altmaier. Daniel Altmaier, mind you.
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