The new head coach of the German women’s tennis team wants to quickly lead a player back to the top of the world.
Torben Beltz, the new women’s national coach of the German Tennis Federation (DTB), draws a positive balance after the first month in office. “The first four weeks were great,” said the former successful coach of the now retired top player Angelique Kerber in an interview with the SID: “I was there for the first training session – that was really fun and now I’m looking forward to the tasks ahead.”
However, Beltz did not want to gloss over the current situation in German women’s tennis: “Of course we are not satisfied with where we are at the moment. I’m not happy that none of us are in the top 50 of the world rankings,” emphasized Beltz – but he sees ‘good potential’ among the younger players in particular, which could change soon: ‘I’m looking ahead very positively that someone will quickly reach the top again,’ said the 48-year-old. Laura Siegemund, currently the best German player, is only ranked 80th in the world.
In the short term, the national coach wants to support the young players in particular, starting as early as the Australian Open, where the main draw begins on January 12. “I want to help the girls who are coming up now to take the next step at the Grand Slam tournaments,” said Beltz. For the talented Eva Lys (22), Noma Noha Akugue (21) and Ella Seidel (19), among others, who are competing in the qualifiers in Melbourne, the aim now is ‘to get into the first rounds as quickly as possible’ at the major tournaments.
Beltz has already arrived in Australia and wants to get a picture of the German professionals during the qualifiers in the coming week and the first official tournament week. In addition to Lys, Akugue and Seidel, Anna-Lena Friedsam, Tamara Korpatsch and Mona Barthel must first survive the qualifiers. Seeded for the main draw are Siegemund, Jule Niemeier and Tatjana Maria.
