Why Tim Pütz changes partners in Melbourne

Ahen he heard the praise about himself, Dominik Meffert thought it was too much of a good thing. The coach smiled, got up from the table in the players’ restaurant and said with a wink: “I can’t deal with the slime. I’ll get something to eat.” Tim Pütz also had to laugh. The 35-year-old from Frankfurt had just explained verbosely how important the six-year-old coach is for him around the Australian Open.

The two have been working together successfully in various phases for seven or eight years. As a double specialist, he cannot always afford the “great financial outlay” for travel expenses, says Pütz. “We’ve worked well for the past two years, I’ve played and earned well. So I said to myself: ‘I’ll treat myself to that now.’ This year in Australia with a new doubles partner, I really wanted Dominik to be there.”

Fatherhood in the Krawietz household

The new doubles partner in the doubles competition that begins on Wednesday at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year is not Kevin Krawietz. The two-time French Open winner voluntarily gave up the long trip Down Under. His first child is due in the second week of the tournament.

This became public through a press release from the German Tennis Association two weeks ago on the Davis Cup nomination for the qualifier against Switzerland in early February. Michael Kohlmann left a nomination open and justified this with Krawietz’s family situation.

Pütz and Krawietz had only just fixed their cooperation for 2023. The message that they would work together in the future hit the scene. After all, Krawietz and his now former partner Andreas Mies were considered an almost perfect double. In the Davis Cup, however, Krawietz and Pütz have shone in the recent past, which is why they also want to try it together on the regular tour.

“We discussed this before we fixed our general cooperation. And Kevin also knows that I’ll miss the Masters tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in late February and early March. Then we have our second child.” The new sporting collaboration is delayed by the fatherly joys of the two. If Krawietz doesn’t play a Davis Cup, you’ll probably start in Rotterdam for three weeks in February before he takes a break himself, says Pütz, who has found a prominent replacement in Australia.

As in the previous week in Adelaide, Pütz will serve with the experienced Frenchman Nicolas Mahut. He will be 42 in a few days but is still a doubles player of international stature. He ended three years of his career in the top 50 and won four ATP titles – in singles, mind you. In doubles, he has triumphed in all four Grand Slam tournaments. His long-term partner Pierre-Hugues Herbert has been missing for a long time after, like Novak Djokovic, he did not want to be vaccinated.

Mahut a “really good”

“Mahut was the best player that was available for such a short period of time,” says Pütz. He is a “good, quiet guy” and despite his age still a “really good” tennis player. Pütz didn’t mind that the double in Melbourne would not be set. “The other pairings don’t want to compete against Mahut/Pütz either,” says the Frankfurter confidently after he experienced his personal career high last year with seventh place in the world rankings alongside New Zealander Michael Venus.

The draw resulted in a reunion with Venus right in the first round. He plays with Andy Murray’s brother Jamie, one of the best doubles players on the tennis circuit. As early as round three, Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara, perhaps the duo in the strongest form at the moment, would be waiting.

Pütz still wants to play successfully; the first week with Mahut went well right away, in Adelaide the two reached the quarter-finals. He and Mahut appreciate each other, and Mahut’s attitude to work is impeccable. “I can also learn something from him in a playful way.”

All in all, Pütz and his trainer Meffert use the trip to Australia as a kind of training camp anyway. He came through the preparation without injuries and trained three times for five days in Frankfurt after a short vacation. “I was only briefly ill once. It was the best preparation of the past four or five years,” said Pütz, who was able to train fully every day in Adelaide despite three matches.

The only thing that bothers him is the long time without a family. “Melbourne is actually the best Grand Slam tournament, but distance plays a big part in the judgement. I don’t get on the plane beaming with joy.” His sporting partnership with Kevin Krawietz is long-term. “I’m still relatively new to the double world class. We want to take the momentum with us.”