Senior tennis doesn’t exactly have the best reputation: little movement, a lot of talk, like a moon ball when the breath is gone, and the backhand as a slice saw, of course, always – that’s the cliché. The men’s 30-Bundesliga Süd proves once again that tennis at an advanced age can look completely different, namely great. The staff on offer overshadows many a U30 Bundesliga matchday: Tommy Haas, Mischa Zverev, Nicolas Almagro, Marcos Baghdatis, Daniel Brands, Matthias Bachinger, Rainer Schüttler, Benjamin Becker, Pablo Cuevas – not only a festival for nostalgics, but for all friends of cultivated clay court tennis. Four of the seven teams come from Bavaria, and this time the German champions will also be crowned in the south: on July 15 at TC Pfarrkirchen, the defending champion.
It will be difficult to challenge the team from Rottal to win the title again. The commitment of the bird of paradise Baghdatis four years ago attracted many colleagues: Last year he had prominent teammates in Alessandro Giannessi and Andreas Seppi, now the Spaniard Almagro, 37, the former number nine in the world, has joined the bustling Lower Bavarian team. Even in sixth place, the Belgian Steve Darcis (once No. 39 in the world) is still in a top-class position. The only two Bavarians appear in the entry list at positions 13 and 14: Andreas Schwarz and Felix Riedel.
Without the latter, the Pfarrkirchner success story would probably not exist, as it was team manager Riedel who simply wrote to Baghdatis on Facebook. The 37-year-old from Cyprus is now part of the family and doesn’t shy away from one or the other youth training session on site. He still scores, most recently in the 9-0 opening win against TV Ober-Eschbach, in which the Lower Bavarians did not lose a set. In the first home game on Saturday, they want to let TC Bad Homburg feel their new strength with Schüttler, Becker and Angelique Kerber manager Aljoscha Thron.
On the same day there is a city derby in the south of Munich from 1 p.m.: Großhesselohe against Iphitos. Big names, a lot of tradition, so it’s no wonder that the top game could be Tommy Haas against Mischa Zverev. Zverev celebrated his debut on the Aumeisterweg as number three with a smooth two-set victory, but this weekend he will probably support his brother at the French Open. In addition to number one, Aldin Setkic, Iphitos also has a good friend on the team: former Davis Cup player Daniel Brands. In the 3: 6 at the start of the season against TC Dachau, however, the giant lost to the Russian Mikhail Kukushkin, who still plays on the ATP tour, most recently at a Challenger tournament in Italy.
Großhesselohe puts up its crowd pullers again for the derby
After two 5:4 victories at the beginning of the season, Großhesselohe will field the crowd pullers Haas (lost in game one in the champions tiebreak) and Bachinger, who won both individual games, for the derby. The 36-year-old had played his last game as a professional at the BMW Open alongside Dominic Thiem, said goodbye in tears and is now switching from the Großhesseloher men’s Bundesliga team to the men’s 30s. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a real derby like this,” says Bachinger in advance, “that’s a special match.” Club president Roland Benedikt thinks so too, and he can’t only look forward to a lot of spectators, but also keeps an eye on the table: “A win would ensure us a chance to stay in the Bundesliga.”
The Tennisfreunde Dachau are also aiming for it. After the last two away wins, the first home win should come on Saturday against the hitherto winless TV Ober-Eschbach. Top player Pablo Cuevas would probably have time for a round of senior tennis after being eliminated in the first qualifying round for the French Open.
Nicolas Kiefer shows that ambition does not simply disappear after the age of 30. The former number four in the world, also 45, recently got back into action: with a 6:0, 6:0 in the men’s 40. At TC Pfarrkirchen, where else?
