Mona Barthel will compete in the NÜRNBERGER Versicherungscup 2018. In an interview, the 27-year-old talks about her new Bavarian homeland, the preparations for the season at DTB’s German base in Oberhaching and a possible return to the German Fed Cup team.
Mona Barthel, number 52 in the WTA World Ranking, returns to Nuremberg. After 2014, the 27-year-old will serve for the second time at the NÜRNBERGER Versicherungscup – much to the delight of tournament organizer Sandra Reichel:”The fact that we were able to sign up for the second German top player for the NÜRNBERGER Versicherungscup 2018 before Christmas after Julia Görges is good news for all our fans.” The WTA women’s tournament, which comes with a prize money of 250,000 US dollars, is a great news for all of our fans. FC Nürnberg will be starting from 19. till 26. May 2018.
“After the short-term cancellation last year, we are pleased that Mona Barthel has again included the NÜRNBERGER Versicherungscup in her tournament schedule. We wish her a good start to the season and hope that she will be spared from health problems,”says Dr. Dr. Armin Zitzmann, Chairman of the Management Board of NÜRNBERGER Versicherung.
After many sickness breaks and a relapse to 18th place in the WTA World Ranking, Barthel celebrated a brilliant comeback at the Australian Open earlier this year. Having started into the tournament as a qualifier, she made it into the last sixteen, where only the American Venus Williams was able to stop the triumphant march. In May, Barthel won the WTA tournament in Prague – her fourth title on the Tour.
In 2014 Barthel reached the quarter-finals of the NÜRNBERGER Versicherungscup after winning over Belinda Bencic and Annika Beck. Will she make any progress this time with the support of her Bavarian coach Christopher Kas? We met Barthel at the DTB-Bundesstützpunkt Oberhaching, where she completed the complete preparation for the season 2018 with Kas, for the current interview.
Mona Barthel, on 26. December you will travel to New Zealand for your first tournament in Auckland in 2018. You have completed the complete season preparation in the last few weeks at TennisBase Oberhaching – why there and not somewhere in the sunny south?
There are several reasons for this. For one thing, my coach Chrisopher Kas lives nearby, in Rosenheim. So he can also spend time with his family. Since the beginning of December I also have my own apartment in Rosenheim. Besides, the conditions here are great. I have top training partners here, they are all really nice, they love me. I feel completely at home here – that’s why it’s so convenient. In addition, it was important to me to calm down, because I played through the past season without having had a proper preparation for the season. That’s why I wanted to spend a few weeks in one place without traveling. Now I’m looking forward with great energy to the fact that it’s going to start again soon.
And your German fans can look forward to their second appearance at the NÜRNBERGER Versicherungscup after 2014…
Yeah, it’s been a while since I played there. I wanted to be in Nuremberg this year, but I played so many matches in Rome and Prague that my body was noticeable. But it is always something special to be able to play in Germany. Right now, when I’m even closer to the tournament, it’s even more a feeling of home than before. The NÜRNBERGER Versicherungscup is also a very good preparation for Paris. So everything fits perfectly – so I’m really looking forward to it.
The first day. So the tour will start again in January. What was the main focus in the preparation for the season?
Kasi and I didn’t have any previous preparations for the season, this was practically the first time. We have worked a lot on the serve, on the individual strokes, on the structure of the game. We now finally had a few weeks to cover all areas. Also in terms of physical fitness we have added another scoop.
They have trained on a hard court, similar to the Australian Open. Is there a surface you prefer?
Actually Hardcourt, but lately I also played very well on sand. Lawn is always the hardest for me, because you only play on this surface for a short time. But that was also much better this year. Basically, I can adapt my game to the different rubbers quite well. I like variety – it’s the mixture that makes it happen. I did my preparation mostly at home in a hall, sometimes even on carpets like in Neumünster, where there was nothing else. I’m not that sensitive. We play on a different surface every week, you have to get used to it anyway.
Do you set specific targets for 2018?
Yeah, I always have goals in my head. I’ve been in 23rd place in the world ranking once before, so the top 20 would be pretty good. Yeah, I’d like to break that brand next. And otherwise, my main focus is on improving my game and feeling healthy and comfortable.
How are you doing at the moment?
I’m doing really well, as good as it has been for a long time since the disease that broke out at the beginning of 2016 and took me more than I wanted to. It’s been a long time since last year before I was feeling reasonably well again. It wasn’t until December that I realized that there was a lot of energy coming back, before that it was an up and down. The results immediately showed that I was able to train more again. Therefore, the whole year 2017 was very positive. I started from 190 and now I’m back in the Top 50 again. I’m in a great starting position for next year. The preparation has been great so far, I am physically on a good level, feel fit and healthy. That’s the most important thing. The rest comes automatically.
Where do you see your strengths and weaknesses playfully?
If I feel physically good, I don’t have so many weaknesses. My strokes are all on a very good level. I have a more powerful game, but I also like to bring in a bit of finesse. For my size, I am also lucky enough to be able to move quite well and to cover the course well. So I don’t want to put a stamp on my game. You should know what strengths and weaknesses you have, but I don’t really like to characterize my game. That always narrows you down a little bit. I’m more of an all-rounder.
Shortly after the Australian Open, the match against Belarus will take place in the first round of the Fed Cup. Do you also squint a little after returning to the German Fed Cup team?
Of course, we have an incredible number of good players and it will all depend on how the first few weeks of the year are spent. But I have planned the Fed Cup in any case – when I’m needed, I’m ready. Jens Gerlach, our new Fed-Cup boss, was even here in Oberhaching once to introduce himself and get to know me better. That was awesome.