Justin Engel: Hamburg Win Fuels Jeddah Next Gen ATP Finals Bid

Teenager Engel wins at ATP premiere in Kazakhstan

Quelle: Perform

Two words summed it up: “Making history,” wrote the ATP at the end of last season, when Justin Engel became the first player born in 2007 or younger to win a match on the tour. That was “the best feeling I can imagine,” said the then 17-year-old in Almaty.

Since then, the man from Nuremberg has made a remarkable development. Listed at position 398 in the world rankings at the beginning of the year, Engel worked his way up more than 200 places and is currently number 187 in the ATP rankings.

And the top German talent also set a historic accent: At the ATP lawn tournament in Stuttgart, Engel became the second youngest player since Rafael Nadal in 1990 to win a tour match on all three surfaces. The third youngest professional to achieve this is Alexander Zverev.

A parallel that fuels hopes that Engel will at some point be able to advance into the spheres that Zverev has achieved. Understandable, but also very early and not necessarily helpful, as Philipp Kohlschreiber emphasized. “He’s a young person, there’s an incredible amount coming at him. The expectations of Justin have increased as a result of his media appearance,” explained the 42-year-old, who supported the right-hander as a coach for a few months this year.

In the future, Engel will move his center of life to Monaco in order to benefit from the good training conditions there on the way to new milestones in 2026: “My goal for next year is to qualify for a Grand Slam. No matter whether through the rankings or the qualification. And at the end of the year top 100,” said Engel in an ATP discussion: “Big goal, but I see it positively and will do my best.”

Kohlschreiber praises Engel: “He is a work machine”

The collaboration with Kohlschreiber was an important intermediate stage on Engel’s path, which despite his great talent remains a rocky one, including setbacks. Top results such as reaching the quarter-finals at the ATP event in Stuttgart were offset by a series of opening defeats in Challenger competitions such as those in Koblenz, Braunschweig, Hagen, Saint-Tropez and Olbia. The dream of participating in the first Grand Slam was also dashed in the first round of qualifying at the US Open.

Coach Philip Kohlschreiber training with Justin Engel

Photo credit: Image

But Engel has the key quality to overcome these – normal – disappointments. “He has an incredible will, he is a work machine,” emphasized Kohlschreiber. “You never have to motivate him, you just have to slow him down.” He had prepared his protégé for the fact that there would be setbacks, that there would be “difficult phases” and that things would not always go “steeply upwards”. That worked brilliantly.

Engel after title coup: “It was simply unbelievable”

In addition to Kohlschreiber, whose commitment has expired for the time being, Engel can rely on his father Horst as a coach. The world number 187 worked for this purpose. most recently with Ulf Fischer, who, among other things, made a name for himself as assistant coach of the German Davis Cup team. Personnel decisions that were obviously cleverly chosen.

Justin Engel attacks at the Next Gen ATP Finals

Photo credit: Image

The reward didn’t take long to arrive: at the end of October, Engel celebrated the greatest success of his young career to date and won his first title at Challenger level on the hard court in Hamburg. “It was just unbelievable,” said the 18-year-old happily. “Hamburg is now my favorite city.” A real favorite surface, however, is still likely to emerge. So far, the ATP has favored “everything outdoors when the sun is shining,” quoting the youngster, whose signature shots include the backhand “down the line”.

Next Gen ATP Finals – Engel makes history

But the title in the Hanseatic city was without a doubt a statement, a clear signal of where the journey should go. Thanks to Jakub Mensik’s success and rejection, he even managed to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (December 17th to 21st) at the last minute. Engel is the youngest participant at the season-ending event for the eight best U20 players of the season.

“When I got the message from my manager, I was so happy that I felt like I was screaming through the whole hall,” reports Engel: “Yes! That was a great feeling.”

He is – and now it is becoming historic again – the first German tennis player to ever serve in the tournament introduced in 2017. In the red group, Engel will face the Belgian Alexander Blockx at the start, then they will face Dino Prizmic from Croatia and Nishesh Basavareddy (USA).

Participation may have come as a surprise, but Engel still has an ambitious goal in mind: “I’m enjoying it and I want to qualify for the semi-finals,” the teenager made it clear. If the jump into the knockout round succeeds, Engel would, you guessed it, make German tennis history…

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