This week’s Masters Series tournament at the Tennis Club am Rothenbaum in Hamburg brings back some awfully good memories for me. I arrived there in May of 1994 from sunny Roma, ready to compete in the singles qualifying and the main draw of the doubles.
I signed in for the singles on a wet and rainy late Friday afternoon, and went back to the hotel, driven by a very pretty young German driver. Checking the draw out that evening, I found out that I had to play the tough and well-experienced former French Davis Cup player Thierry Champion. We played the qualies at a different club than the main site, and we played in the early afternoon, and I was dismantled rather easily in straight sets by the clay court specialist. (Incidentally, Champion is currently a well respected coach of the young upstart French player Gael Monfils.) To cool off my sorrows, I headed to a local tavern and had a bratwurst and a Heffeweisen beer.
What made Hamburg a tough tournament was the heavy and often wet conditions. At that time of year, Spring is in its very early stages in northern Germany and the weather can be horrendous. When the weather was nice, I always enjoyed my morning runs around the beautiful lake that is close to the tournament hotel.
During this memorable week, I had the pleasure of practicing with Boris Becker at one of the practice courts. We played a few baseline games to eleven, and I was very nervous throughout. I remember waiting for him to come to the courts, and when he arrived, it was like the Pope coming for a visit. He was very amiable, and it was a sheer pleasure.
In the doubles, I signed up with South Africa’s John-Laffnie De Jager. He was an experienced doubles player, and I felt our chances were good. He has gone on to become the South African Davis Cup coach and he runs some great charity events in his homeland. We drew the German team of Dirk Dier and Torben Theine in the first round. We played well, and won 6-2,6-2. Dirk was a funny German guy, who loved the Fantasiche Vier band. I would later play German club tennis with him for TC Mannheim a few years later.
In the next round, we battled against the South African David “Chewy” Adams. He was nicknamed this due to his resemblance to the Star Wars character Chewbacca. He would team up with the Russian Andrei
Olhovskiy, a very stern looking KGB agent-lookalike, who starred on the Russian Davis Cup team. We went down 6-2, 7-6 on one of the back courts at the club. Overall, it was a great week on the tour, and one that I will never forget.
Please visit the TennisGrandStand Forums