Karsten Braasch, 58 years old, was active as a tennis professional in the 1990s and early 2000s. His unconventional but smooth style of play, especially the movement of his serve, earned him the nickname “Cat”.
Although he achieved considerable success in singles and doubles, reaching position 38 in the world rankings and playing for Germany in the Davis Cup, he played his most famous match outside of the regular competitions against Serena and Venus Williams. Braasch now works, among other things, as a tennis coach at the Velbert 1898 netball club.
Mr. Braasch, do you still smoke?
Do you know why we ask?
Honestly, not really.
Because this conversation is supposed to be about your famous tennis match against the Williams sisters Venus and Serena during the Australian Open in 1998. And because they are said to have smoked between the sets they played. They won 6-1 against Serena and 6-2 against Venus and the cigarette was afterwards declared a kind of symbol of their superiority.
First of all, I don’t think I smoked in between. And secondly, even if that was the case, it certainly had nothing to do with me wanting to demonstrate any kind of superiority. Other players also smoked. I was just the only one who did it in public. At players’ parties, a lot of boys came to me because they knew they could always get a cigarette from me. Many of us enjoyed life back then.
They are also said to have had several shandy drinks and played a round of golf the morning before the match.
We had actually arranged to meet on Sunday. Only with Serena because Venus still had to play in the quarterfinals. But then the match was postponed until Tuesday afternoon. I had already arranged to meet my golf group that morning. We always had a lot of fun and went out to dinner together afterwards. For me, the match against Serena and Venus simply wasn’t as big a deal as it was made out to be afterwards.
Why do you think it still haunts them to this day?
Because for some reason people find this gender comparison fascinating.
I can’t really explain it. I didn’t take it entirely seriously back then. Because there is simply a huge difference in terms of physical requirements. There will obviously be special rules for Sabalenka and Kyrgios. For example, there is no second serve and the playing field on your side should be reduced. Maybe that makes it a little more exciting. Because if Kyrgios takes the matter seriously, this shouldn’t normally be a problem for him.
What was it about her that made her want to compete against the Williams sisters?
That was just completely spontaneous. At the same time we were standing in the office of the ATP (men’s professional tennis organization, editor’s note) in Melbourne. The two had walked in there before because they wanted to know if there was any rule that would prevent them from competing on the men’s tour. There weren’t any. They said that they had watched a player playing and were sure that they could beat him. At some point they revealed that they could definitely beat a player who was ranked around the top 200 in the world rankings. And I just stood there because I wanted to register for tournaments and then I said: “I’m ranked 203rd. You can try it!” That was just a saying and the girls didn’t even respond to it at first. But afterwards someone from the ATP came up to me and asked if I would really do that. And because my flight wasn’t until a few days later, I said yes. Not a big deal at all.
And how did it become a big deal?
Because Serena and Venus said about it at a press conference. They had just won doubles 6-0, 6-0 or something like that. And then they said that it wasn’t a very difficult match, but they had a really difficult match the next day. Then the journalists pricked up their ears because they weren’t scheduled for the next day. And when we played – we had booked ourselves into the back seat of the facility so as not to disrupt operations – the stands were full of journalists.
Serena was 16 at the time and Venus was 17. Both are very good, but certainly not yet at the top of their capabilities. Would a duel ten years later have been more exciting?
If I had been ten years older, i.e. over 40, maybe a little. But if I were at the same level as back in Australia, I think that would still be a clear number for me. Because – and please don’t mean this to sound disrespectful – I didn’t play properly in our game. I basically played without a first serve because I wanted us to have a few rallies and just have a bit of fun together.
When women’s football teams occasionally test against boys and lose heavily, there is usually malice afterwards. And always the question: Why are they doing this at all?
Of course I can only speculate about football, but I could imagine that it’s just a good test for them. No matter whether they win or lose. When you compete in sport with better people, you can learn from it. In tennis, for me: If the girls want to try it out, they should be happy to do it. These are great athletes. Just like Serena said before the match: “Okay, Karsten, let’s give it a try.” Then I thought: OK, give it a try. But I’m not making a serious event out of it. You will see that it doesn’t work well for you. I think that the Williams sisters were simply young and naive back then and perhaps didn’t fully appreciate it.
Did you have any contact with the two of them after the match?
I was still on the tour for a few years, but there were few points of contact. Surprisingly, the two of them don’t even walk into the men’s locker room. But at the French Open, immediately after the match in Melbourne, I stood in the players’ tunnel to Court Susanne Lenglen and talked to a colleague. Serena walked past with her entourage. At first she acted as if she hadn’t seen me. But then she turned around. We looked at each other and she said, “Karsten, you know the thing in Australia never happened.” That was the last conscious contact we had.
Her career also had other highlights, such as appearances in the Davis Cup. Their nickname, “the cat,” because they moved so smoothly, was no coincidence. Nevertheless, they are probably most often asked about a match that was unofficial and of which there are neither videos nor many pictures. Does that bother her?
Maybe it’s a bit of a shame that other successes fade into the background. But that’s completely fine. I’m still a tennis coach and sometimes give camps with adults. This is where the topic comes up again and again. “Karsten, tell me, what was it like with the Williams sisters back then?” they say. That doesn’t bother me in any way. It’s a good story.
