The altitude, the avocado salad, the US Open - news from the rumor mill
The winner will be determined today at the German Men's Series at TC Großhesselohe. The final is Oscar Otte and Yannick Hanfmann. The players are excited - and still have to deal with a lot of uncertainties.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jul 24, 2020, 12:09 pm
Let's assume that on a Thursday in July 2020 you would visit the final phase of the German Men's Series on a magical and time-honored tennis facility in the south of Munich: what certain insights you could take home after talking to some of the players present , Coaches, officials and journalists? Surprisingly few, so the exciting balance. A lot is unclear in national and international tennis. An attempt to summarize nevertheless follows - similarities with living persons are purely coincidental.
- The most important fact remains: The gastronomy at TC Großhesselohe is fan-tas table! In the small (the avocado and tomato salad - the palate laughs) as in the large (the salmon, the risotto - a poem!). Probably the one who found space for a pizza.
- Oskar Otte has very elegantly overridden the principle of altitude: Otte trains more at sea level, his three opponents in Munich (Maximilian Marterer, Yannick Hanfmann, Cedric-Marcel Stebe), on the other hand, are very familiar with the changed flight behavior of the balls. Otte went undefeated in today's final. Incidentally, again against Hanfmann, against whom he already won in three sets on Thursday.
So much for the objectively verifiable facts. But now you have to poke in the fog of uncertainty.
- When it comes to the US Open, the second guard of German tennis is rather in the dark. Should actually be played in New York, Peter Gojowczyk would have to get a place in the main field as current number 125 in the world. Finally, everyone assumes that several aces will save the trip (in this context the name Rafael Nadal also fell in Großhesselohe; however, Novak Djokovic is not expected to cancel). Unless the USTA is still causing a stir when it comes to wildcards. Stebe, currently at position 133, could also enjoy a performance at the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.
- As of Thursday, on the other hand, it seems that the ITF want to start their future tournaments and the ATP their challenger events as planned despite the cancellation of the ATP Tour 500 tournament in Washington on August 14th.
- The tournament series planned for Monday in Halle / Westphalia leaves some of those inclined to tennis with many question marks: over 900 matches? Six a day starting at nine o'clock? Which of the announced top players (Struff, Basilashvili, Kohlschreiber) is playing for how long?
- On the other hand, you can hear that German tennis fans may still be able to look forward to an ATP tournament in their home country. The organizers in Hamburg have not yet canceled the European Open. And are reportedly very flexible when it comes to scheduling. The roof over the Center Court on Rothenbaum also helps with particularly creative ideas.
And speaking of the roof: This also lasted at the TC Großhesselohe in the catering sector this Thursday. The local low at lunchtime may be the game Otte vs. Hanfmann interrupted - the hustle and bustle around the really highly enjoyable avocado and tomato salad could not harm it.