Interview with Lukas Neumayer: "The main goal is to switch to the Challenger Tour as quickly as possible"
Lukas Neumayer celebrated his first international men's title a few days ago. In an interview with tennisnet.com , the Austrian talks about his highlights so far, his development potential and the goals for the 2022 season.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Feb 18, 2022, 10:06 am
Lukas, first of all, congratulations on your first international men's title. How are your feelings with a little distance to the week in Antalya?
Of course, I'm still really happy that I won this tournament, but my focus is already back on the upcoming tournaments. I'm already back in Vienna - so I was happy for a while and now it's on again.
In Antalya last year you were able to collect your first points for the ATP world rankings - why is tennis in Turkey so important to you?
I wouldn't say that I really like tennis that much there. But I really like playing on sand, on clay. Also, the conditions last week were really good for me. A lot came together, I would say.
Almost exactly one year between the first points and now your first victory on the Future Tour: How have you been able to develop in terms of play and mentally in the last few months?
I've made a lot of progress compared to last year. The groundstrokes have become even faster, the serve has become much better. In the tournament I got a lot of free points with the serve, which was also very important. In general, I've developed physically and mentally I've definitely gotten stronger.
I would say that the last week was actually the highlight of my career.
Lukas Neumayer on his title win in Antalya
You write that you will be among the top 300 in the ATP world rankings this year. Two months have already passed in 2022: How realistic do you see that after the first two months?
Yes, I think if I play a good summer, then that's definitely realistic, then you can definitely move up very quickly. In tennis you play a lot of tournaments and I will also play a lot of tournaments. And then we'll see what happens.
One of your career highlights, if you will, was definitely the performances in Kitzbühel last year. Would you say that back then you showed the best tennis that was available to you at that point in time?
In any case, I had nothing to lose in Kitzbühel, I definitely played the best tennis there last year. But I would say that the last week was actually the highlight of my career. Because it was a title and I beat very well-ranked players, didn't drop a set - and that for a whole week. That was very good last week.
In an interview with tennisnet.com at the beginning of 2021, you explained that consistency is definitely the area in which you have to improve the most in order to be successful on the Future Tour. To what extent have you succeeded so far? And where might there be areas for improvement?
I've been working a lot on my serve lately, especially at the training camp in November, because my basic strokes were already very good. Of course we also made sure that they got even faster, that I got even more active. Serve and return have been very important lately, and I've managed to do that very well over the last week. I'll also see that I can get even better - especially when serving. And then the game from the baseline, that it becomes even more active and that I'm looking for the way to the net even faster. That's the goal now.
With the goal of making the advance in the world rankings very quickly, the Challenger Tour would soon start. In your opinion, can the leap from the Future to the Challenger Tour be compared to the leap from juniors to adults?
No, I don't think you can compare that. I believe that with these futures that I played recently, especially with the M25s, there were very, very strong opponents. And they were also very good in the world rankings. The level will definitely go up, but I don't think it makes that much of a difference sometimes.
At most of your events you are also at the start in doubles – but the partners are usually different. How important is doubles for you?
My coaches and I think it's very important that you can also develop in doubles for singles - in areas such as the serve or the volley. The main focus is of course on the singles, but when I have a partner I always make sure that I can play doubles in order to practice certain key areas that I can then apply to singles.
But your main focus now and in the future is always on the individual?
Yes, in any case.
You mentioned it a bit before that the sand suits you particularly well, which is also shown by your successes, which have mainly come about on clay courts. Would you describe yourself as a clay court specialist?
I would say that I play a lot better on clay than on hard court, although lately I've gotten better and better on hard court. But I used to almost always train on clay and hardly on hard court - so it could also be that that's the reason. But playing on sand is just better for me.
As you mentioned, it is quite possible that this connection to the sand also comes from youth, from development. Would you say that this puts you at a certain disadvantage on hard court? Are there other nations in your age group that are perhaps still clearly ahead on hard court?
Definitely, there are some players who have been training on hard court for a long time or have had the chance earlier. But I still think that it will be easier for me in the future, because I now train very often on hard court in Vienna and I've also played a lot of tournaments lately. I would like to play many tournaments on this surface in the future, so that I can continue to develop there.
It would definitely be the highlights if there was a chance to play in Kitzbühel or Vienna.
Neumayer on possible highlights of the 2022 season
A negative side of the previous year was your meniscus tear with knee surgery. Does this injury still affect you in any way today?
Last year when it happened I was really shocked because it was actually my first injury, I really had nothing before and it was quite sudden. But since I had the operation and I did rehab, everything is really great. I've never had any pain, my muscles have built up really well and I was able to play tournaments again after just two months - so hardly any time was lost. I'm doing really well now and haven't had any pain since.
Let's take a look at your planning for the upcoming season. Where will you end up? And what might be the really big highlights for the 2022 season?
The highlights would definitely be if I got the opportunity to play in Kitzbühel or in the Stadthalle again. Apart from that, you have to see that the Challenger Tour starts as soon as possible and then there are really only big tournaments where you can score a lot of points. As I said, highlights would definitely be if there was an opportunity to play in Kitzbühel or Vienna.
But in the next few weeks, what does your plan look like in concrete terms?
I will fly to Tunisia on Monday and play a tournament on hard court there. Then it's straight back to Antalya, where I'll play two futures – an M15 and an M25. That's the plan for the next three weeks, after that I'll see how it goes.
Finally: If you look back on the 2022 season in mid-November: What do you need to have achieved in order to go into the winter break satisfied?
My goal for the year was to win my first Futures title as early as possible – and I managed to do that very early on. I'm very happy there. The main goal now is that I can switch to the Challenger Tour as quickly as possible – that of course also depends on the ranking, so it would definitely be very cool if I was around 300. And also that I develop myself playfully and physically. But I've already done that very well in the past year or two. Of course, it's also very important that I stay injury-free. Overall, I'm very confident for this season and I'm already looking forward to the coming months.
Thank you for the interview.
With pleasure.