Expectation: “Two in the top 20”
Team boss increases pressure on tennis players
04/13/2023 08:07
Rainer Schüttler believes that German tennis players will soon be among the best in the world again. The German team manager has a lot of confidence in Jule Niemeier in particular. A good showing in the Billie Jean King Cup against Brazil would help.
According to team boss Rainer Schüttler, the German tennis players are well on the way to being among the best in the world again in the near future. “The expectation in Germany should be that in the next one or two years two German players will be in the top 20,” said Schuettler before the German duel in the Billie Jean King Cup with Brazil in an interview with the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and the “Stuttgarter News”. Before the start of the first round on Friday and Saturday, Germany will be fighting for the first title in the team competition since 1992.
Schüttler, once number five in the tennis world (almost exactly 19 years ago) and winner of four individual tournaments, believes Jule Niemeier in particular is capable of a lot, “who with her participation in the quarter-finals in Wimbledon last year proved what she’s capable of “, he said. “She’s currently having a few problems, but actually she brings everything with her. In addition, with Noma Noha Akugue, Eva Lys and Nastastja Schunk, we have three very promising talents, one of whom can certainly shoot through to the top.”
Lys, meanwhile, believes in a win against Brazil. “We’re all in very, very good shape right now. If you add team spirit and team spirit, you can certainly win against anyone,” she said in an interview with the “Pforzheimer Zeitung”.
There is currently no German among the top 50 players in the world rankings. For the 46-year-old shaker, this also has to do with the funding. According to Schüttler, this is “above all a social issue”. In many Eastern European countries, 14-year-olds were already leading the life of a professional. On the other hand, “more value is placed on school and training in this country”.