Swiss tennis hope
Well on his way to becoming a professional: 16-year-old Henry Bernet from Basel is one of the best tennis players of his year in the world
Henry Bernet is one of the greatest hopes of Swiss tennis promotion. Between Spain, Biel and Florida, the Basel native is at the Swiss Indoors, where he talks to us about his future plans
The 16-year-old Henry Bernet from Basel wants to take part in junior Grand Slams soon.
Photo: Markus Peter, empepress.ch
Henry Bernet sits on the terrace of his parent club TC Old Boys and philosophizes about FC Basel’s renewed defeat the day before. The young Basel native once played for the Red-Blue youth team. «As long as I can remember, I always played tennis and football. When I started sports class at the age of twelve, I had to choose a sport.” Bernet focused on tennis, which today turns out to be a wise decision.
The 16-year-old is currently in 118th place in the junior world rankings. If the 2005 vintage is removed from the rankings next January, a top 50 ranking will even be within reach for Bernet, who was born in 2007.
There is a stringing machine in his room
Bernet has just returned from Spain, where he took part in two ITF tournaments during the week. He has now been living at the Swiss Tennis national performance center in Biel for over a year. There he lives under the same roof with other talented people, although he can also retreat to his own four walls. Bernet likes the daily focus on sport and has never been homesick: “Everyday life is completely focused on competitive sport, which I really like. There’s even a stringing machine in my room.”
In addition to his sporting career, the nephew of Marianne Bernet, the club president of the TC OB, is also investing in his school education. A new educational offer from “Beyond Sports”, an online training platform, offers competitive athletes the opportunity to pursue their school obligations individually and flexibly in terms of time.
Between the trip to Spain and the return to Zealand, Bernet enjoys a free weekend in Basel, which of course also includes the Swiss Indoors on the program. «I’ve been attending the tournament for seven years. This special atmosphere is a great motivation for me. It is my goal to be on center court one day too.”
During the weekends without games, Bernet enjoys time with his family in Basel. Returning to his hometown is a big concern for the junior. Despite the many trips and the great sacrifice of youthful privileges, Bernet still maintains close contact with his circle of friends. Compulsory programs such as playing football with his brother Louis, as ITF tournament director and as a player himself also active in tennis, must not be neglected.
The Australian Open is the next big goal
At 16 years old, Bernet is already an impressive 1.92 meters tall. The serve is one of the Basel player’s greatest weapons. But his trademark is undoubtedly the one-handed backhand, which is actually threatened with extinction in his age group. «I’ve been playing the backhand one-handed for a long time. I had trouble early on with the two-handed backhand. My trainers at the time, Sébastien Ndoumbé and Yannick Thomet, advised me to just try out the one-handed one. Since then it has felt natural.”
The next big step in the young career is qualifying for a junior Grand Slam. The Australian Open is on the agenda in January. To do this, Bernet travels to Florida at the end of November to score important points for his ranking at two tournaments. These are his first competitions outside of Europe. To qualify for the main table, you would have to aim for a ranking within the top 50. Whether he succeeds this year also depends on the next few weeks.
2023-10-25 03:00:00
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