Lars Uebel is on a double mission in Kitzbühel: he coaches Philipp Kohlschreiber and Yannick Hanfmann, who qualified for the main field after two two set wins.
ennisnet: Mr. Uebel. Her protégé Yannick Hanfmann defeated a young Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild in the first qualifying round in Kitzbühel, who has made a good name for himself as a junior. What potential does the young man have?
Lars Uebel: Of course, this is always difficult to judge from the outside. I saw Seyboth Wild for the first time this week, and we just happened to practice with him yesterday. I was very positive about his game. He tries to play actively. He seems very self-confident. But he’s too up and down in his game. Sometimes he plays three mistakes, then again three good points or serves. The step to the men is still too big. He does a lot of things well, but consistency is still missing.
tennisnet: How do you assess the current situation of Yannick Hanfmann?
Uebel: It’s perfectly okay that he plays qualification here. That’s what the ranking says after twelve months. No problem at all for Yannick and for us. He played a very good tournament in Braunschweig two weeks ago, has played his way into the first 100, where he will drop out next week because the points from Gstaad 2017. He’ll level off about 130. And if we had been told two months ago that we were at 130 in Gstaad, I would have immediately put an abbreviation under it. And Yannick is well positioned to be in the top 100 by the end of the year.
tennisnet: Maximilian Marterer qualified for the main field a year ago in Kitzbühel, now he is Top 50, at the French Open you sat next to his coach Michael Kohlmann in the box, varying from “Maxi” to “Max” to “Maximilian” in their shouts. Can we conclude on different escalation levels?
Uebel: No, something like that comes spontaneously. Sometimes you say “Maximilian” and think to yourself: Oh, was that perhaps too hard? But this arises out of an emotion. And the boys have known us for so long that they can already put us in a position as we mean something like that.
tennisnet: How difficult was the match in Hamburg last week against Daniel Masur, whom he knows very well, for Maximilian Marterer?
Uebel: Maxi was a big favourite. And that’s why it was the much, much more difficult match for Maxi. I don’t want to diminish Daniel’s performance at all, he played a very good tournament, which makes me very happy for him. Because Daniel puts a lot of work into it every day. But for Maxi it was a difficult situation, because if you know each other as well as they do, a ranking position is not as important as if the number 300 normally plays against the number 50. Maxi and Daniel often train together, they know each other of course.
tennisnet: What has improved at Maximilian Marterer during the last year?
Uebel: That he played third round at the Australian Open certainly gave him a boost. And he beat a top player with Verdasco. It always takes a little luck that has come for Maxi in important phases. And to say this self-image: I belong here, and I don’t shit my pants in front of someone in the top 30. And then the game, which is good anyway, gets better and better. That’s how Maxi won his rounds. And he’s gonna lose his rounds again. This is a normal process.
tennisnet: Marterer came here from Hamburg to Kitzbühel. Is the change really as enormous as some players represent it?
Uebel: I haven’t been in Hamburg for the last two years, but in Gstaad. If you come from there, it is actually quite pleasant here in Kitzbühel. Of course it is faster here than in Munich, where we actually train. If you come from Hamburg and play with other balls, you have to change of course. It’s been two or three days. And most of the people who play here aren’t here for now.
tennisnet: However, coaching is not your primary task…
Uebel: That’s right. In the Bavarian Tennis Federation I am responsible for professional sport, i.e. the development of structures. Because I was on the road a lot with Philipp Kohlschreiber, I was extremely tied. Even if I enjoy coaching a lot. But to look after a player who stands 25 and the other professionals is a very big logistical effort. I’ve been in Munich for six days since the BMW Open, so some things remain unfinished.
tennisnet: A word to Rudi Molleker.
Uebel: Rudi has taken a big step forward. It’s still a small volcano, of course. You can tell it’s coming out of him. But one must not forget that Rudi is only 17 years old. And has shown that he can win matches at this level. He beat Jan-Lennard Struff in Stuttgart, now David Ferrer in Hamburg. If he manages to create a good environment for himself, then that is a step in the right direction.
tennisnet: Another question about great tennis: Was it foreseeable for the insiders that Novak Djokovic would return so strongly?
Uebel: The first time I thought again: Ruff!, that was in training in Rome with Juan Martin del Potro. They played incredibly well, and it was clear to me that if Novak continued like that, he would win matches again. I saw an interview with him where he said that the motivation was not 100 percent, and the fun of the competition would have been a bit lacking. And that’s a good reflection for young players: that even the world stars, when they’re not there mentally, just can’t make it.
tennisnet: Which is not only true for Djokovic.
Uebel: You can see that in Stan Wawrinka, who has problems winning matches at all. He beats a Dimitrov, loses next round to Fabbiano. These are the little things that make the difference in men’s tennis. Roger Federer is said to have played badly at Wimbledon. And yet he had match point against Kevin Anderson to win 3-0. These are all nuances. When he does this, it is called “almost perfect match”.