Lars Uebel coaches at the Oberhaching tennis base. At the moment the former professional Davis Cup player Yannick Hanfmann is preparing for the coming season.
tennisnet: Mr. Uebel. You just experimented with the material with your players. What kind of space does this take in the off-season?
Lars Uebel: In general, December is a good time to try something out. to see if there are any improvements. This applies to rackets, strings, shoes, clothing. Contracts continue to expire or expire – and we have close contact with HEAD here. There was a team here today and we tried to work with the strings, and Matthias Bachinger also tried to work with the rackets. In the end, of course, it’s up to the player. And not us. But of course we are on a high level, so the improvements and changes are minimal. But, of course, we’re still trying to get a few percent.
tennisnet: You are currently looking after Yannick Hanfmann. He was also a member of the Davis Cup team last year, and has improved significantly in the world ranking. Where do you see the next development steps?
Uebel: I’m always a bit critical. Yannick is currently in 120th place, so it has to be the goal to reach the top 100. On the other hand, Yannick of our players is surely the one who has the most construction sites. Physically and playfully. We hold regular player and coach discussions here, so the list at Yannick has been the longest of all things to work on. I therefore hope that it will stabilize at a good ATP level and come under the top 100.
tennisnet: Yannick Hanfmann played a very strong tennis tournament in Gstaad, but lost out immediately the following week in Kitzbühel. Is that the lack of constancy you mean?
Uebel: That is certainly a point we are discussing. We have also noticed that Yannick has rarely played well for more than a week. He had a few good weeks in 2017, after which there was always a drop in physical and playful terms. Physical fitness also goes hand in hand with mental fitness.
tennisnet: How do you see the next generation, such as Rudi Molleker, who trained in Oberhaching, or Marvin Möller?
Uebel: At the moment I see the potential for the top 200 only with Daniel Altmaier. From the Canadians with Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime we are a bit far away, without being angry now. I don’t feel that Rudi is far away. Playful in no way, there is a lot of potential. Rudi has to work on his attitude, his appearance on the pitch, and I have already criticized that when he was here with us. Just get more professional. He fights of course, wants to win, that’s undisputed. But his attitude is farther away from the boys than playful. If Rudi will settle between 200 and 300 in the coming year, it would be very, very good, I don’t trust him to make it into the top 200 yet.
tennisnet: What age-groups do your observations reach?
Uebel: I was at the German youth championships this year to get an impression of the boys we have here at the tennis base. That’s going down to vintage 2003. And I’ve been looking at the girls, too. We work here in the extremely high range, but I wanted to see the level of the teenagers, from U14 to U18. I wasn’t incredibly convinced. Of course it’s also difficult for me: I’m only there for one day, then I try to collect as many impressions as possible. But it wasn’t that I went out there and said,”He’s going to start in two years. We have a good level, a good average, but I haven’t seen anyone jutting out. Molleker and Möller didn’t play, but for me in Essen it wasn’t so clear that I would say: I bet my money on that.
tennisnet: How often does it occur that young players and their parents are told that it’s probably enough for the Bundesliga, but not for the Wimbledon victory?
Uebel: Too rare. It’s a fine line – it’s our job to support young players here and to give them the opportunity to get their education at school. On the other hand, the focus should be even more on the question of who can make it into professional sport. On the other hand, we also need a certain number of players in the tennis base – this is always difficult to assess from the outside. I wondered why only a few of us could make the next step. Now I’m deeper in the matter. And yes: we are getting better. But it’s not as easy as it may seem from outside.
tennisnet: You also play strong tennis yourself. How often will we see you on the pitch next year, for example in the Ü-30 Bundesliga?
Uebel: It is a matter of the heart for me, because I am also friendly to our board members at MTTC Iphitos, Fabi Tross and Peter Bosch. I would like to help the club, but on the other hand I want to see what else works for me. But this time I was only able to play twice, and it won’t be much more in the coming year.