When the daily training schedule was published on Sunday morning, the usual suspicious names were found on the note as well as the skin protagonists of the Nitto-ATP finals. Listed as so-called hitting partners for the best eight individual players of the year were, among others, substitute Karen Khachanov from Russia or the young Argentine junior hopeful Sebastian Baez from Florian Heer in London.
One last name, however, caused some astonishment within the German-speaking journalist group in London: Torebko. Was it Peter Torebko, for example, who was supposed to hit the Center Court of the O2 Arena in London with the Japanese number nine in the world, Kei Nishikori, at a quarter past five? After a short time of uncertainty and brooding, as well as various Asian name experiments, it was clear that this was the case.
Peter Torebko, 30 years old from the Hanseatic city of Wesel, is currently ranked 367th in the ATP World Ranking. The German won 12 tournaments on the ITF Pro Circuit. His last triumph took place last year at a futures event in Turkey. In August he reached the final of the Überlingen Open. Just a few days ago he was more or less out of the public eye at the clay court tournament in Santa Margherita di Pula. Now one of the biggest tennis arenas in the world.
How does a hitting partner get to the ATP finals? “The idea was born last year during a visit here in London,” Torebko says after his 25-minute performance on the Center Court. “This year I simply wrote to the ATP,” says the likeable man from the Lower Rhine. “I just came from France today, but I’ll have more missions in the next few days because there’s still people needed.”
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To stand together with Nishikori on one place was actually no real premiere. “We played against each other once in our youth in Cologne. Today he is a world star,” Torebko, who has been studying business administration for two years in parallel to tennis, says almost a little reverently.
“Like a little boy before the first day of school,” he felt before the crash. “I was insanely nervous at first. Even if they’re just ordinary people, you don’t want to make any mistakes.” The team around Nishikori did not give any special instructions. But Torebko was allowed to go through a kind of “dress rehearsal” with old master and Nishikori coach Michael Chang.
“We played about 20 balls together, then Kei came along. Maybe he wanted to test first whether it could work at all,” laughs the actually experienced tennis crack. “Nishikori didn’t give a damn who was on the other side. He came to the court and worked his way up. He was in the tunnel before his match with Roger.”
Money isn’t Torebko’s priority in this kind of performance. Although you are far from being able to live in abundance as a professional in your ranking spheres, the experience you gain and the fun you have are in the foreground. “ATP gave me a badge and said it’d get you in anywhere. Maybe next year I’ll ask for a fee,” joked Torebko, who after his special training session also fulfilled various autograph requests with a smile on his face.
The contrasting programme on the ITF Pro Circuit looks less glamorous for the native Polish for most of the year. Torebko, who currently stands at position 50 of the “ITF shadow ranking” for the new season, can therefore also imagine a commitment that can serve to improve the conditions for players at the subclass tournaments.
However, before returning to normal on Saturday with a league match in Metz, France, which Torebko will be able to rely on as a source of income, Torebko will have to play in London with Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem. He also knows these two top players from past matches. But Torebko’s big dream is a meeting with Roger Federer. “I’ve seen him many times before, but I’ve never played him before. That would be very cool.”
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At the end of the day in London, the Swiss maestro had to experience for himself that a training session with Torebko in the run-up to a big match can also be good for the top stars of the scene. Nishikori’s first victory over Federer since 2014 marked the start of the group stage of the ATP finals. Best references, therefore, to perhaps make the dream come true.