“I can’t play for five hours with a hearing aid”
Status: 12:12 p.m
Big fight: Yannick Hanfmann excited in Paris
Those: dpa/Fabrizio Corradetti
In an epic five-set match, Yannick Hanfmann fights his way up a round at the French Open. He was actually already eliminated in the qualification. The 31-year-old is hard of hearing. He thinks that’s an advantage.
Dhe first five-set win of his tennis career made Yannick Hanfmann enthusiastic. For minutes after his first round thriller, the 31-year-old from Karlsruhe let himself be celebrated by the numerous German fans in eighth place at the Stade Roland Garros, took selfies with the supporters and gave away souvenirs.
“I will never forget this day,” said Hanfmann after midnight early Wednesday morning in Paris. “I’m extremely proud of that.” By beating the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro 6: 3, 7: 5, 6: 7 (6: 8), 6: 7 (2: 7), 6: 4 in 4:56 hours only for the second time in the second round of a Grand Slam tournament.
Shortly before the clay court classic in Paris, the world number 65. caused a sensation with reaching the quarter-finals of the Masters tournament in Rome and two victories against professionals from the top ten. “I think I’m riding a small wave,” he said, adding, “I hope to ride it as far as possible.”
Actually, Hanfmann had already failed in qualifying at the French Open, but then moved into the main field as a so-called lucky loser due to the cancellation of an opponent. Now his greatest success in a Grand Slam could follow against Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo.
A handicap that he sees as an advantage in tennis
The fact that Hanfmann plays at the French Open at all has an unusual background, because football was actually his number one. There, however, a handicap presented him with problems. The 31-year-old has been hard of hearing since birth – like his sister and father. “Of course, the hearing loss shaped me, even if it was a matter of course at home,” he said in an interview with KIND: “At school I found it uncomfortable, I also wanted to hear everything. Unfortunately that was not possible.”
As a teenager, football was the main focus for him, Hanfmann played in the youth team of Karlsruher SC. However, his hearing loss became a problem for him, which he says prevented his career. “At some point I stopped hearing my team-mates shouting and the coaches’ commands,” he says. “It’s completely different in tennis – this is where I see my opponents. That simplifies the whole thing.” While he wears a hearing aid in everyday life, he doesn’t use it for tennis. It’s not necessary, he says. He informs the referees in advance.
A hearing aid would actually be counterproductive for him on the pitch, as he found out. “The system would be overloaded,” he explains. “I tried it once – I can’t play five hours with it.” In tennis, he even sees his hearing loss as a positive thing: “Because I don’t hear everything that’s being said and shouted in the stands.”
