Continued injury, sporting stagnation, sudden career planning… to speak of a German Fräulein miracle is hardly possible anymore. What else is in it for Sabine Lisicki, Carina Witthöft, Anna-Lena Friedsam and Co.?
By Jörg Allmeroth from Wimbledon
Sabine Lisicki did not even enter the green area in southwest London as a player this year. Her Wimbledon took place far from Wimbledon, on the unadorned lawns of Roehampton, the scene of the annual qualifying hardship. Lisicki failed in the first round of the application tournament, just like almost all the other German women. She then tried to cheer up her still loyal fan base with a brave picture on instagram and brave slogans. Wimbledon was merely the “first step” in this last of many comebacks: “I never give up.” But Lisicki has been in crisis for a long time, her former Wimbledon finalist shine had already faded far before the ongoing physical complaints.
Lisicki stands these days, as the world’s biggest tennis tournament gradually enters the decisive phase, like a symbolic figure for disappointed hopes in long pampered German women’s tennis. Away from the two front figures Angelique Kerber and Julia Görges there is suddenly a rather gloomy picture: Persistent injury pitch, sporting stagnation and too erratic career planning hardly allow to speak of a German Fräuleinwunder – at least not if this also means a high performance density at the top. Where a few years ago young players were pushing to compete against the established, older competition in the national Fed Cup selection, there is now a rather yawning emptiness. Kerber and Görges have no alternatives as managers, quite simply because they always felt a need for optimisation in the organisation of their work and the selection of personnel. And acted accordingly.
Of course, there are also stories about injury, about ever new setbacks, about futile comebacks. Who wouldn’t think of Andrea Petkovic, who approaches her return missions without hesitation. Laura Siegemund is also one of them, she was the German number 2 when she suffered a cruciate ligament rupture shortly after her title coup 2017 in Stuttgart at the WTA competition in Nuremberg. The return to the touring business is difficult, the Metzingerin even voluntarily refused to participate in the lawn festivities in London. “I have to gain self-confidence at smaller tournaments,” says Siegemund.
Anna-Lena Friedsam is another problem case, the once so aspiring Rhinelander. When she played Kerber in the first round of the Australian Open in January, it was already a win for the permanently injured Friedsam, despite her later defeat. But the dream of a new start did not last long, already in April Friedsam had to be operated on his shoulder again – the return to the tour circus was postponed indefinitely. There is hardly any better news for another woman of hope, Annika Beck from Bonn. After 14 first-round defeats in 2017 and physical problems, there were even rumours of a career ending at the beginning of the year. This was followed by an official denial of the once snappy speedster, who had already been compared to Steffi Graf because of her fast legs. But Beck has not yet played a competition game in 2018.
Carina Witthöft, the 23-year-old woman from Hamburg, could be something like the successor of the Kerber, Görges and Co. generation. But in her career there are no signs of development, no evolution, no real progress. Too often professional and private things mix in the environment of the Hanseatic singer, a trainer with great authority and independent power of attorney has never been in sight. It seems as if Witthöft is satisfied with her place among the top 100, which guarantees her appearances in the Grand Slams – and thus also a considerable bonus for her presence in the main field. If you ask an internationally renowned coach with a German background why he doesn’t even care about a German player, you hear this: “Who? Where is there a perspective?” He also refers to difficult situations with players like Mona Barthel or Antonia Lottner, to too many family objections to tennis.
And the next but one generation, the U20 players? Barbara Rittner had to admonish patience last. There is a gap in the age group of the players who should now master the difficult entry into adult tennis, says Rittner: “But behind it we are well positioned again,” says the DTB women’s manager. But until these talents could cause a sensation in Wimbledon and elsewhere, it’s still a little eternity ahead.