Germany’s Davis Cup team boss Michael Kohlmann is in Munich satisfied – and distributes praise to Philipp Kohlschreiber and Maximilian Marterer.
At the first ATP event of the year on German soil the local heroes are the focus of attention – and almost all the top people came to Munich. This is also a fantastic opportunity for Davis Cup captain Michael Kohlmann to observe his charges – and potentially future selection players – in one place over a longer period of time.
With Alexander Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff, Maximilian Marterer and Philipp Kohlschreiber, four German men have reached the quarter-finals of the ATP 250 event. Kohlmann is accordingly satisfied with his role as national coach on the fringes of the tournament in the Bavarian capital. “At the moment we are 10 to 13 people, all of whom are closely ranked and have a similar level of performance. All of them are good guys who are with heart and soul. It’s easy and I’m happy to be there,” Kohlmann tells a small circle of journalists.
A special role is played by Philipp Kohlschreiber, who, as Kohlmann says, is a “role model” for the younger guard. The 34-year-old from Augsburg had announced his intention to attack again and to take a look at the top 10.
“This statement is certainly courageous, but not impossible as a goal when you see how he can play on good days. He can beat almost everyone,” comments Kohlmann and, together with Rafael Nadal on Sand and Roger Federer, names the possible exceptions. “But he can keep up with anyone.”
Kohlmann is actively supported in his work as a selection coach by former industry leader Boris Becker, who acts as “Head of Men’s Tennis” at the German Tennis Federation.
“When Boris won Wimbledon, I just won an U-14 tournament somewhere,” said the former world number 98 about his first memories of Germany’s tennis icon. “The cooperation is very good. You can see that he lives tennis and it is important to him to contribute his know-how to the work of the next generation in particular”.
Despite the defeat in the Davis Cup quarter-final against Spain, Kohlmann sees the German men’s team on a good path. “The Davis Cup weeks this year were incredibly harmonious. Everyone in the team of supervisors has their position and knows their area of responsibility. It’s an exciting task and I hope it can continue.”
Kohlmann’s personal protégé is Maximilian Marterer, who is currently enjoying a good run at the BMW Open this week. With a victory over Diego Schwartzman, the world’s number 16 after all, the Nuremberg native made his second appearance in a quarter-final at ATP World Tour level.
“Maxi is someone who needs to acclimatize, feel comfortable. He was in six futures finals until he finally won his first title in the seventh. Then he won four in a row. He needs the certainty of winning matches on a bad day. And he has now.”
In addition to an ATP Challenger success in Cherbourg, Marterer attracted particular attention at this year’s Australian Open. With victories over Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and the Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco, he advanced to the final 32, where he finally ended up against the American Tennys Sandgren.
“These victories were extremely important to him and he’s ready for more,” Kohlmann says, adding: “It may sound funny, but that was certainly not his best match today against Schwartzman, who was clearly unsettled after the lost first set. That was certainly not an achievement of a number 16 in the world today, but Maxi also defeated him. It was a great match, but you can’t overestimate it either.”
Torturer himself was satisfied with his performance. “It was by far the best result I could achieve this year. It was a tough match and I had to fight for each of my service games. But I think I did very well,” says Marterer, who trains with Kohlmann at the TennisBase in Oberhaching.
The world number 73 defused all ten breakballs and will now play Marton Fucsovics from Hungary. At the Miami Open they already faced each other this year and Marterer won in two sets.
“It’s gonna be a different match this time. However, the height may benefit me here, as the balls bounce high, giving me more free points on serve.”
At last month’s Davis Cup against Spain, Marterer was already part of the team in Valencia, but without any effort. With further good results he will be able to recommend himself to his trainer for another nomination.