Mona Barthel: Training in Sweden instead of the Australian Open

Mona Barthel has always spent the past ten years in Australia from the end of December through January – and at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year for tennis professionals, which will take place from January 17 to 30 in 2022. In 2021 she was eliminated there in round two, then played in the Phillip Island Trophy. The native of Bad Segeberger is currently taking a new path.

The 31-year-old joined the Good-to-Great Tennis Academy before her twelfth season as a professional. In Danderyd, better known in this country as the dining table of a Swedish furniture store, Magnus Norman, Nicklas Kulti and Mikael Tillström have dedicated themselves to player development. The trio, which opened the academy 15 kilometers above Stockholm in 2016, knows what it’s talking about: During their playing career they were among the best players in the world and had different shares in the Davis Cup victories in 1997 and 1998 in the three-crown Team.

Barthel “needed another change”

“I had the feeling that I needed another change and would like to try something new,” says Barthel and is optimistic: “Let’s see how that develops.” Barthel is currently in Linz, Austria after her tournament (3: 6, 1: 6 against the American Alison Riske) last November no longer played an official match, listed in the world rankings at number 275.

So there were of course no more big jumps to be made before the tournament in the land of the kangaroos. The cut for the 128 field was clearly missed. In general, the past calendar year was when Barthel became the first Neumünster for the second time participated in the Olympic Games, with a match record of nine wins and 21 defeats rather in the drawer “can go”.

Barthel names the second Grand Slam tournament of the year in France as the first goal for 2022. “I’m trying to work my way up, maybe I’ll be back at the French Open,” says the Neumünster confidently. In the past year However, the 31-year-old failed in the qualification in Paris.