June Blog

Oh June. Where do I start? This month had everything: joy and disappointment, hospitals and holy grass courts (and boy, are they holy). Also a race against time and a heartbreak. But let‘s take it one step at the time and see how it all started with a piece of cake for me.

After a mini vacation and completing my final spring exam on the first Friday of June (some of those exam questions were like, „duhh??“), I flew to England early Saturday morning to join Thiemo and Lele before his upcoming semifinal at the 125 Challenger in Surbiton. They had both been doing a tremendous job that week. Over the next two days, I witnessed two outstanding grass court matches and celebrated Lele‘s first Challenger final on grass. With the score being so close, it was one of those losses in a final that hurt quite a bit. Little did we know then, it was nothing compared to what we would experience a few weeks later…

The same night of the final in Surbiton, I had a great talk with Thiemo, sitting in a pub, both of us holding beers in our hands. In general, my conversations with him are priceless. They can be anything from brainstorming ideas to light chitchat (basically conversations with two brain cells) to deep and meaningful discussions - like this one was going to be. I wouldn’t be able to work the way I do with Leandro without Thiemo‘s involvement in the team. Without sharing too many personal details, I still remember him saying to me in an encouraging way: “You know, sometimes I think not getting too many rewards too fast can be a good thing.“

“What do you mean?“ I asked surprised.

What he said next changed the way I see this thing called “failing“ and helped me a lot later this month. He said:

“Sometimes we wish for things we wouldn’t even be ready for. Of course, I absolutely wanted him to win the title, but I believe this loss will make Leandro’s character grow and make him more resilient in the future in a much more profounder way than winning the title would have. Failing is evolving. Adversity inevitably builds your character,”

I don’t think I need to add anything more to that.

Saying goodbye to Thiemo and hello to Nottingham, there wasn’t much time to dwell on the Surbiton final. Monday was both our travel day and preparation day for the upcoming first-round match on Tuesday. Despite our best efforts to get ready, it wasn’t enough for this event. Losing a tough singles match followed by a close doubles match the day after meant we were out of the tournament by Wednesday. This shows the seemingly forgotten two-sided factor of this sport: On one side, you get new chances every week; on the other, you may have to defend a clean slate less than 48 hours after a successful week. And trust me, the final in Surbiton seemed far away as soon as he was knocked out twice in the first round in Nottingham. But all we could do was get back on our feet, look at the positives and learn.

Moving on to the third week, we found ourselves in Ilkley for the third and last Challenger tournament before the upcoming Wimbledon qualifying. The week couldn‘t have been more turbulent. Players witnessed a rare experience as the Supervisor forgot to put Leandro into the draw and had to stressfully sort out his mistake the next morning. Parts of the draw had to be changed, and one player was taken out of the draw due to Leandro’s rightful entry. Everything within minutes before the start of the matches! A lot of confusion and a lot of joking around in the players’ circle. Everyone took it with humor except for the guy that was removed from the draw – which was understandable. As the matches were finally about to start, it began raining - the whole day. So, we ended up watching the Euros instead of tennis (Hopp Schwiiz). The next day, after his first-round victory, Lele felt a sharp pain in his rib, which led us to decide to withdraw from the tournament and do checkups to get a clear picture of his physical condition before the Grand Slam. Long story short, the doctors found no major injuries, which was a big relief but also somehow frustrating as the pain remained the same, forcing us to just rest, with the start of Wimbledon getting closer every day.

Back in London the rest days meant that Alessia (physio and amateur photographer), Lele and I had plenty of time to stroll through different parts of the city, such as the Hyde Park, Chelsea or along the Thames. Despite the horrendous daily traffic (and “horrendous” is an understatement), I really started to like London and its intimate, traditional vibe. Also, seeing the practice courts only once prior to the tournament, helped ease the Grand Slam nerves that every player goes through before such a big event. Particularly at Wimbledon, where everything is about traditions, you could feel the tension and excitement on-site (I was just excited to eat Wimbledon strawberries every day to be honest-that’s what I came for). Fast forward the time, passing two rounds of qualifying and being match point up to qualify for the main event, Lele’s opponent found ways to pull through, saving several critical situations to eventually claim victory after almost 4h. Ouch. This one really hurts. So close, yet so far. Nothing and no one to blame. The whole team, especially Lele, left everything out there, only to come up a few centimeters short in the end. Chapeau to his opponent. It’s crazy how quickly it can go from low expectations to heartbreak within a week. Without a doubt this one will hurt for a bit. Nevertheless, the list of positives to take of this experience is so long and the result doesn’t change that. We pack our backpacks for the future - when we go again, leaving everything out there, with no regrets. Because after all, what remains except to just keep going?

As I finish these last lines of my blog and prepare to leave England after 3 weeks with a bitter pill to swallow, I feel immense pride in our work and so much excitement for what lies ahead. Reflecting back to the conversation with Thiemo in Surbiton; moments like these are painfully necessary along the journey. It builds character and strength. And lastly, I live for these emotions. The good and the bad. I can’t imagine a life without them. And I will never seek only for the highs. I embrace all experiences and I’m thankful I get to live this through the sport.

Next month will be all about home soil and a Swiss summer month. But first I will have to deal with the aftermath of my Multi-Grandslam-loss. I’m already (not at all) excited.