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New faces in the Porsche Junior Team and Porsche Talent Team

A few weeks after the contract extension with premium partner Porsche, the German Tennis Association has named the 16 players who will receive individual and particularly intensive support in the Porsche Talent Team and the Porsche Junior Team in 2021.

by PM
last edit: Jan 21, 2021, 09:59 am

Porsche and the DTB rely on these players
© DTB Theo Gärtner
Porsche and the DTB rely on these players

The promotion of young talent remains one of the central topics in the cooperation between the German Tennis Association and Porsche. The sports car manufacturer has been making an irreplaceable contribution to the umbrella association's extensive funding measures for many years - with the common goal of providing as many young players as possible with comprehensive support on the long way to a professional tennis career.

The Porsche Talent Team and the Porsche Junior Team, whose members are redefined every year by the coaching staff under the leadership of Barbara Rittner, are still important instruments. The women's tennis boss is responsible for the entire female junior division and coordinates all support measures. Not an easy task in times of a pandemic, which has also affected the otherwise plannable tennis sport.

Training impressions and attitude are important selection criteria

“Last season wasn't easy,” says Barbara Rittner. “Neither for the players, who absolutely need competitive practice in the transition phase from youth to adults, nor for us, who are supposed to assess their development. Due to the low number of tournaments, we have therefore used less the results and rankings for the new composition of the Porsche Talent Team and the Porsche Junior Team. Instead, we weighted our training impressions and the attitudes of the players more than usual. Hopefully that will normalize again this year, because it is essential for the talents to compete with others in matches - and these are also the situations in which we want to see them. "

Despite the imponderables, Rittner, together with national trainer Dirk Dier and national trainer Jasmin Wöhr, has planned numerous training courses for 2021 and hopes - if the tournament calendar allows under pandemic conditions - more tournaments for the players at home and abroad. In their daily work on and off the pitch, the young hopes are also effectively supported by individual measures such as athletic training, physiotherapy, nutritional advice or sports psychological support, with the long-term goal of being appointed to the Porsche Team Germany, the women's national tennis team for adults.

In the Porsche Talent Team, these six players will receive additional support in 2021:

Eva Lys from Hamburg was already a member of the Porsche Junior Team and now complements the Porsche Talent Team after graduating from school.

The talents who are still required to attend school will continue to be promoted as a Porsche Junior Team. This year these are the following players:

The aim is to give these players the best possible individual support, despite their school commitments, so that they have a professional environment at all times. With Nicole Rivkin, Carolina Kuhl and Ella Seidel, three new names have been appointed to the Porsche Junior Team, so that now a total of ten girls are promoted in the Porsche Junior Team - more than ever before.

“That is good and important, because it distributes the pressure on several shoulders,” explains Barbara Rittner. “The generation around Angelique Kerber, Julia Görges and Andrea Petkovic showed that healthy competition among each other ensures that the girls push each other to achieve their best. In this respect, these many talented young players that we currently have are an ideal starting point. "

by PM

Thursday
Jan 21, 2021, 11:30 am
last edit: Jan 21, 2021, 09:59 am