In the shadow of Djokovic and Zverev: Lübeck tennis professional Tobias Kamke is looking for his chance in Australia
Tobias Kamke is 35 years old, has seen almost all the major tennis arenas in the world in his professional career since 2004 and worked his way up to 64th place in the ATP world rankings. That was eleven years ago, it currently ranks 255th. But the tennis fever does not let go of the Lübeck. One more time he wants to know, one more time he wants to make it into the top 100. Like every year, the journey there will begin in Australia in 2022.
First serve in Traralgon, waiting for the open qualification
As so often before, Kamke took the plane Down Under on December 26th – alone, without a trainer, supervisor or even a physiotherapist. As ATP No. 255 you are a lone fighter. The Australian Open is his big first stage goal of the year in order to reach the peloton there, but Kamke has to go through the tough qualification mill that begins for him on January 11th – he doesn’t yet know who his opponent will be. In 2021 it was there for Henri Laaksonen from Lübeck in the first qualifying round. Kamke lost 5-7, 3-6. In the other Grand Slam tournaments in Paris, Wimbledon and New York, he did not make it into the main draw in 2021 either. He has now played at the Challenger tournament in Traralgon 150 kilometers from Melbourne. In the first round it was the end of the day – 6: 7, 2: 6 against the Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven, who would actually be his collar size as No. 261 in the ATP rankings.
Kamkes Tour: 24 Challenger tournaments in 2021
Challenger tournaments, quasi second class below the big ATP tour with prize money of 50,000 to 130,000 dollars, are the actual stops on the Kamke tour. He played 24 of them in 2021, from Quimper in France to Braunschweig, Meerbusch and Posen down to Bari, 15 times it was over in round one, once – in Mallorca – he was in the semifinals. The tournament series keeps the Kamkes and Co beyond the Djokovic ‘, Zverevs and other superstars financially afloat, especially since board and lodging have been free at these tournaments since 2019. And it offers the opportunity to gain points for the big ranking.
Only three hotels to choose from – and always with a mask
In the meantime, Kamke has long since arrived in Melbourne – of course under the strictest Corona regulations. The Australians don’t joke as they are demonstrating in the Djokovic case. Kamke describes the situation to the LN. “Here it is, as I know it from Germany, you are only allowed in if you have been vaccinated and checked in, and you must wear a mask everywhere,” he says. “There are only three hotels for all players. They are not open to the public so that you have as little contact with others as possible. But you can still move freely in the city. In the meantime I’ve got used to these circumstances, so it already feels normal. “
Videocall to Lübeck: Happy Birthday, Nevio
Only the temperatures of up to 38 degrees are “still a bit getting used to and exhausting” during training. There are no permanent training partners on site. All players can enter themselves in a list, from which training pairs are then formed. On Thursday, when “only” 25 degrees, Stuttgart’s Yannick Maden found himself to be an exercise partner, a 32-year-old, ranked 307th, who, like Kamke, dreams of reaching the main draw at the Australian Open. The man from Lübeck is optimistic. “I’m looking forward to a hopefully good and successful qualification,” he says – and, like every year, gets support from home. Every January 6th, he traditionally reports to his godchild Nevio for his birthday via video call from Down Under. He is nine years old and wished the faraway uncle all the best and a great tournament.
From Jürgen Rönnau
Reference-www.ln-online.de