Interview with Laura Siegemund: "Didn't know I could play this level"
Laura Siegemund , winner of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2017, in a tennis net talk: about pressure at home games, her strange match ball and the long struggle with her body.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Apr 25, 2020, 01:39 pm
Laura Siegemund has been one of the faces of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in recent years. In 2016, the Stuttgart played out of the qualification to the final, in 2017 she won the title almost as surprisingly. We spoke to the 32-year-old about her special relationship with the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. And about her difficult time after winning when she suffered a cruciate ligament rupture and failed for a long time.
tennisnet: Ms. Siegemund, the first pictures that come to mind when you think of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix - which are they?
Laura Siegemund: The Porsche Arena, in other words the place when you arrive. When it gets dark, the smoke rises, the lights come on. And the voice sounds: "Please greet ..." That's just cool. And I see game scenes in front of me. Funnily not even from my victory in 2017, more recent ones, like from my opening match 2019 against Lesia Tsurenko. It was a dream match, it rarely happens that it runs smoothly from start to finish, without sag. From my point of view, I have these scenes on the square in front of me. And these emotions arise that always affect me at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. This joy because everyone is there who would otherwise not be able to watch live: my parents, friends and acquaintances. And the audience behind me. Everything mixed with a portion of expectation. And also the pressure that you want to do it particularly well. A mixture of home advantage, but also very special tension.
If you look at your results in Stuttgart, the home advantage seems to inspire you.
I see it quite rationally: Every match has its sticking points, where you have to perform. If you don't, you lose. If you manage to solve such sticking points over and over again in the course of a tournament, you may win. If you fail at one, it may be over. In these tight situations it helps a lot to have the audience behind you. Picking you up when things are not going so well. And pushes when things are going well. Nevertheless, I am not someone who is completely cold from the pressure. That is an extra burden. I appeal to my professionalism and say: this is part of my job. I also see it as a challenge to deal with it.
What you did without a doubt: In 2016 you defeated three top ten players on your way to the final with Simona Halep, Roberta Vinci and Agnieszka Radwanska.
The great thing was: I had nothing to lose. And with every round I made it got even less. I've always been the underdog. The difficulty up to this tournament was that I didn't know that I could play this level and possibly win such tournaments. Of course, I had already felt that I had it in me, but I could never translate it into results. And then you level off at 100 or 150.
The famous difference between training and match?
It is this balancing act between what you can do and what you do in the tournament. Now, for example, I know that if I'm fit, if I'm healthy, if the match practice is correct and I've experienced certain situations - then I'm a top 50 player. That does not mean that I am always in the top 50, currently not either. But I know: I have this level. Certain factors must be right and certain opportunities must arise. If you pull a top ten player every time in a big tournament in round two, it will be difficult. But the knowledge of my strength is now in me. I didn't know that at the time.
In 2017 you had a lot of points to defend due to the final the year before. Can you hide something like that?
(thinks) In such cases I try not to go into a tournament with a defensive stance. The topic is ultimately up to date every week due to the world ranking. And it can be grueling. The mindset is trying to regulate it differently. I want to work on myself as a player on certain facets of my game. The points whether I defend or make new ones are the result of this process.
Sounds good in theory.
As I said, that's the mindset. The reality is often different. You have to defend these points, you can't always shake them off. Maybe already on the pitch, but before that you like to compare the ranking positions and see: This week it's about a third of the points that are on the account. And you know exactly: If you do not deliver, you quickly slip through to 90th place. The structure of the ranking particularly distinguishes the profession as a tennis player. Because it affects our daily lives. Who can shake it off and completely hide it - congratulations (laughs) . On a mental level, dealing with it is one of the biggest challenges for tennis professionals.
They were able to handle it, did another run like this in 2017, again defeating three top ten players with Svetlana Kuznetsova, Karolina Pliskova and Simona Halep . How did you shake off the pressure?
I always like to divide between heart and head. The head says: Stay rational, one match after the other! The heart gives emotions, you can not turn that off. At that time I felt the pressure extremely, did not want to lose early, was incredibly defensive - keyword defender mentality. I tried to counteract this from the head and said to myself: Take every match for yourself. In Stuttgart it is brutal from the tableau, there are almost exclusively top 30 people from round one. I had to hide the previous year, had to stay in the moment, leave out expectations.
They even won the final against Kristina Mladenovic .
It was a different situation in the final too. In 2016 I was flat, my tank was empty. I had played seven matches including qualification, plus doubles. In the final I led 3-0 and noticed that I was running out of juice. An Angelique Kerber then plays too consistently and makes too few mistakes. You can go short rallies against a hard hitter, then maybe the strength is still enough. But against Angie, who sends you 20 times left-right and makes no mistakes, it will be difficult. In 2017 the conditions were different, Mladenovic and I had the same number of matches until the final. Of course we were physically knocked out, in a final nobody feels like a young deer anymore. But I knew this time: she is no different.
The match ball against Mladenovic was strange. Third set tiebreak, Mladenovic plays a stop, you cross-stop the short stop at or next to the line - the referee had to decide. How do you remember this scene?
The path to the network, the moment you win - is usually a very long one. All the tension is gone. You shake hands with your opponent, but you had a few seconds to process them beforehand. In this case the three of us stood a meter apart. And when I saw that the line from my stop was minimally swept white and the referee then gave the appropriate hand signal that the ball was good, I realized: this is the greatest thing I have ever achieved! At the same time I saw Mladenovic's disappointment, she had led 4-1 in the tie-break. She immediately held out her hand, you don't want to cheer disrespectfully. As much as I was happy for myself, I felt her pain so much. At first I was careful not to hurt her or to behave me wrong. Ultimately, it was an unfortunate way to win a very good match because it was both of us. You'd rather win that with an ace or a forehand board.
You suffered a cruciate ligament rupture shortly after the Stuttgart victory in Nuremberg, and were completely out of action for almost a year - in the best phase of your career. Were you bitter at the time?
That is heart and head again. I would have absolutely understood myself if I had been totally frustrated. But it wasn't like that at all. At that moment it was of course bad, but I quickly reacted positively. I am actually not the nature optimist, rather a realist or sometimes a pessimist. I wanted to make the best of it and had no sag. In rehab, of course, it couldn't go fast enough, there were setbacks, a second operation… But I also accepted that as a challenge. Enjoyed being able to do things other than tennis. Knowing: I'll be back. Even if that was far from certain, there was a concern that it would not work. It was almost a year before I could play tournaments again. And another year until my body was found. I had many other injuries in 2018 and it wasn't until 2019 that I felt that things were going well again. Up to the level I wanted to be, the level I was before the injury - that took almost 2020.
Three “lost” years are a hell of a lot in tennis.
Of course, I could have played a great season in 2017. I would also have liked to take what is connected with it in terms of success and of course also financial aspects. But the only thing I really struggle with is time. I am no longer the youngest and would like to play for a few more years. To lose two or three years in the situation at the time: that's a hell of a lot. I regret that this time was taken from me.
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The many injuries you mentioned in 2018 - were they still related to the knee?
I always thought: If the knee fits again, everything will be as before. But the body had gotten out of hand and had to recover. You feel fit - and then your left calf suddenly closes. Then the doctors say: Sure, it comes from the knee. I probably put a different load on the left side, although I didn't feel like relieving my knee on the right. We speak of extreme stress in competitive sports, not an hour of exercise a day. This is how you get to know how the body is coordinated. If the right foot is deformed, it goes through the knees over the hips - and on the left back it hurts, sometimes for years.
If you change a small adjustment screw, it has a massive impact on the overall system.
It became clear to me during this time. Back then I had the feeling that I no longer knew my body. Usually you know that if I do this and that today, tomorrow I will have this and that problem. Or you know whether you can still add a unit or if you should stop. If you suddenly no longer know all this, it is an extremely uncomfortable and stressful feeling for an athlete. At the same time, you also have to find yourself as a player. This balancing act between patience and expectation was a great challenge. I am currently in a very good mood, have found myself, know what I can and want. And that's cool. To get another two years free would be the greatest! But time is like a river: what has flowed past never comes back. So I'm just grateful that I can play again and from now on I'm trying to make the best of it.
Because of the Corona crisis, you are currently forced to take a break like all professionals. How have you spent the past few weeks?
I am currently in the USA, I have good friends in Florida. Even coaches that I've met over the years. I played the smaller tournament there before the Indian Wells cancellation. Then we decided to stay. The tennis clubs have all closed, but I can train with my friends on a court in the garden.
Are you training through this time?
I work out fully. Not at the limit - when the weather is bad, I don't stand by the window and hope that it stops raining for two hours (laughs) . But then I just go to the gym. But I have a good intensity. One that I can keep going for a long time. The nice thing is: At the moment you can train a bit more freely, sometimes have a less result-oriented fun session, which otherwise simply doesn't work for reasons of efficiency. I really enjoy that.
Thank you very much for the interview and all the best!
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