He started very early
From the age of 14 and a half, seven years after his first racket strokes, Daniel Altmaier played his first qualifications in Futures. He had also managed to take a turn. In 2016, he pushes Stefanos Tsitsipas to the third set, at Roland Garros juniors, before reaching the third round at Wimbledon, stopped by Alex De Minaur. The following year he reached the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 of Antalya, at only 18 years old.
He was slow to break through
If Daniel Altmaier did not enter the top 200 for the first time until last August, it is because the 22-year-old German had to juggle heavy injuries. A little over a year and a half ago, his name had even disappeared from ATP shelves. He was fighting only to get back on a court, after a long rehabilitation to fight recurring injuries to his right shoulder and abdominals.
He put the confinement to good use
With the experience of his previous weaknesses, he was able to focus the period of confinement on a specific physical preparation, intended to provide him with the physical stability that he had lacked. His Argentinian coach Francisco Yunis (61st ATP in 1987) also helped him master the game even better on clay, the surface on which he grew up.
He got his hands on the Challengers
Since August, he has resumed his career from the right end, notably reaching two semi-finals on the Challenger circuit, in Cordçons and Aix-en-Provence, beating the Italian nugget Lorenzo Musetti and the Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, and yielding narrowly against the great Spanish hope Carlos Alcaraz. “With the other young people, things are already playing very well and we are pulling each other up a bit”, he appreciates.
He has an almost flawless course in this Roland-Garros
With his shorts too wide, his one-handed cuff and his determined approach, Altmaier traced his route with great thrusts in the Parisian scene. Between his three qualifying rounds and his three rounds in the final table, he gave up only one round. Matteo Berrettini may have led 5-3 in the second round, this Saturday, nothing worked for the world No. 8 (6-2, 7-6, 6-4). Here he is in the round of 16, already sure to be at the worst 121st in the world at the end of the tournament.
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