Of course, Henrik Schmidt was completely correct in presenting Grün-Weiss Mannheim to the audience at the beginning of the day as the “series champion” and “title defender” of the Bundesliga. After all, these are facts. Most recently, Mannheim won the championship three times in a row. However, what was then greeted by the guests at the facility as a welcome, one or the other viewer might have doubted these descriptions. Certainly, every player who plays in the Bundesliga is an outstanding tennis player. However, when number ten on the seeding list is suddenly number one in the matchday squad, a drop in quality is undeniable.
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Injuries, Corona, plus reports from other tournaments, the list of problems for the squad composition was long for Mannheim’s team boss Gerald Marzenell this time. With the currently tight tournament calendar in Europe, Schmidt also had to struggle on the side of Gladbacher HTC, but he still had two top four players from the squad in Albert Ramos and Daniel Altmaier – while Grün-Weiss arrived with an emergency team. The starting position has probably never been so promising for the GHTC to defeat the industry leader of recent years.
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Info
Game of the GHTC and table of the Bundesliga
Einzel Albert Ramos – Nicolas Kicker 6: 7, 1: 6; Daniel Altmaier – Philip Florig 6:4, 6:1; Andrej Martin – Kevin Krawietz 7: 6, 7: 6; Robin Haase – Robin Kern 6: 4, 6: 2
double Andrej Martin/Roman Jebavy – Nicolas Kicker/Philip Florig (task); Robin Haase/Tim Sandkaulen – Robin Kern/Kevin Krawietz 4: 6, 4: 6
Position Points
1. Rochusclub Düsseldorf 7:1
2. TC Bredeney 7: 1
3. Gladbacher HTC 6:2
4. GW Mannheim 5:3
5. TC Großhesselohe 4:4
6. TK Aachen 4:4
7. BW Neuss 2:6
8. TC Ludwigshafen 2:6
9. TC Rosenheim 2:6
10. BW Krefeld 1:7
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Unsurprisingly, the day began with two smooth individual victories for Gladbach: Daniel Altmaier won 6: 4 and 6: 1 against Philip Florig, listed in the world rankings as number 898 over 800 places worse than his opponent, and Robin Haase defeated Robin Kern, who is currently not listed at all, with 6: 4 and 6: 2. After that it got tight.
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Team boss Schmidt didn’t want to accept the role of favorite anyway. “Against Ludwigshafen a week ago we should win hands down, in the end it was a narrow 4:2 win. The Bundesliga is very tight,” he said, adding: “The weaker players know that they only have to get one set and they’re in a match tiebreak. The top players, on the other hand, always have the pressure to win. The games can often not be made out on paper.” This was shown in the top game, in which Albert Ramos surprisingly lost 6:7 and 1:6 to Argentinian Nicolas Kicker, the said provisional number one in Mannheim, number 193 in the world . For the Spaniard Ramos it was the third individual defeat in a row in the Gladbach jersey. “Ramos may not be in top form at the moment,” Schmidt noted.
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The last individual between Andrej Martin and Kevin Krawietz was later described by both Marzenell and Schmidt as a “tipping game” for the outcome of the match day. Krawietz was by far the best-known name in Mannheim, after all, he won the Grand Slam tournament at the French Open twice – albeit in doubles, he is not at home in singles. The duel between the two then developed into a game for every point and with plenty of twists and turns: First Martin pulled away, then Krawietz caught up and eventually even took the lead before Martin equalized again. Of course, both sets went into a tie-break, both times won by Martin, who played his first season for the GHTC. The intermediate result after the individual: 3: 1 for Gladbach.
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After just a few minutes in the two final doubles games, the match day was completely decided: Nicolas Kicker withdrew for Mannheim at a score of 1:2 due to groin problems, victory went to the Gladbach duo Andrej Martin and Roman Jebavy. The decisive fourth match point for the GHTC. The remaining doubles was therefore just a spectacle for the audience: Kevin Krawietz and Robin Kern won 6:4 and 6:4 against Robin Haase and Tim Sandkaulen.
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“We’re satisfied,” said Schmidt afterwards. “If we had lost, we would have had to look at the bottom half of the table with 4:4 points. That’s why it was an important win.” With the score now 6:2 and third place in the table, HTC from Gladbach can still look up.
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