Anna-Lena Grönefeld has been a member of the German Fed Cup team since 2004. The double specialist could also make the difference in the semi-final against the Czech Republic on Saturday (12:00) and Sunday (11:00/each live at DAZN) in Stuttgart.
Anna-Lena Grönefeld walks relaxed through the catacombs of the Porsche Arena. A girl like her can no longer be disturbed. Even if it’s about her heart these days: playing Fed Cup.
Grönefeld has been a regular player in the DTB team since 2004 – and is currently the longest-serving player. With Barbara Rittner (44), first team manager and now Head of Women’s Tennis in the association, she even played together for Germany 14 years ago.
The fascination of the Fed Cup has lost none of its appeal for the 32-year-old. “It’s always a lot of fun to be there,” says Grönefeld, who describes her efforts for the national team as a constant in her career. Something that somehow always gave her a bit of a hold and felt good off the beaten track. Just like a little oasis of well-being.
Grönefeld knows exactly that it could also depend on her this weekend. Just like in the quarter-final in February against the highly favored hosts Belarus (3:2). In Minsk, she scored the decisive third point in doubles at Tatjana Maria’s side for the outsider without Angelique Kerber and Julia Görges. “Nobody expected this victory, so it was even nicer,” Grönefeld recalls the goose bumps.
No matter how the duel with the ten-time Czech title winner ends in Stuttgart, everything will feel a little different. “Home games are always a bit more intense because there’s a lot more going on around them,” said the two-time Grand Slam winner in the mixed, “but in away matches you move even closer together as a team because you only have yourself. That’s the biggest difference.”
Grönefeld himself absorbs every Fed Cup moment. Well aware that a career end is slowly coming into sight. “It won’t go on forever, because I simply want to have a family,” emphasized the Hanoverian-by-choice organizer. Go on tour with your child like her colleague Maria? Grönefeld doesn’t really want that, but she leaves a back door open: “One should never say never.”
For the number 20 in the double world rankings, life in the professional circus is no longer just a pleasure: “It gets harder with age. Living out of a suitcase, hotels, facilities – that’s wearing you down the older you get.” And yet one notices Grönefeld’s inner satisfaction.
This was quite different some time ago. In October 2011, the native of Nordhorn ended her individual career on the tour after a grueling psychic war with her ex-coach. Five years earlier, the 1.80-metre-high right-hander had reached the quarter-finals of the French Open, finishing 14th in the WTA individual ranking.
Grönefeld found her luck only afterwards – as a doubles player. A little off the glistening spotlight. Since then, of course, she has had to forego the privileges of the individual players. She has long since lost her longing looks in the direction of her preferred competitors. “Of course, you’re always a little bit the last link in the chain at tournaments. But you know that when you play doubles,” she said.
A slight regret can be heard, but there is no sign of bitterness. Grönefeld has achieved too much for that. I will look back proudly on my career,” stressed the 32-year-old – and added: “I will never earn as much as I do as a professional tennis player.