This man just doesn't have an expiration date.
At the biblical tennis age of 94 years, Adi Hussmüller from TC Blau-Weiß Gröbenzell is still on the tennis court almost every day throughout the summer.
Gröbenzell
- At the age of 32 he was a late caller, but that didn't stop him from winning one championship title after another between the ages of 45 and 85 in singles, doubles and with the team as if on an assembly line.
"But the most honest opponent is the practice wall," says Hussmüller, as he has just appeared from the tennis club for an interview.
Physically and mentally in top shape, he also gives the explanation.
"The ball always comes back on the wall exactly as you hit it." Hussmüller, born on August 8, 1926 in Timisoara (Temeschburg / Romania), could after 62 years of active tennis time in which he had traveled all over the world is to tell so much that his stories would become a thick book.
“But of course you don't have that much space in your newspaper,” he says with a smile and restricts himself to a few highlights in his interesting and sometimes amusing statements.
Inevitably, it turned out that the fit senior not only met numerous tennis legends next to the court, but also played against them, of course, when they too had long been indulging in senior tennis.
“When I played for the German team at the World Cup in Perth for the first time, I met Australian Frank Sedgman (Wimbledon winner 1952) in doubles.
And I also played against his final opponent, the Czech Jaroslav Drobny (Wimbledon winner 1954) once and only had to admit defeat 11:13 in the third set. "
Hussmüller's picture hangs in a clubhouse in Chile
And Hussmüller himself has meanwhile become something of a tennis celebrity.
Thousands of kilometers away in the Chilean Vina del Mar, there is still a photo hanging in the local tennis club, on which Hussmüller is immortalized, reported blue-and-white coach Fernando Gonzales.
Gonzales comes from the fourth largest city in Chile.
Before Hussmüller hit the mostly younger opponents "around the ears" with the yellow felt balls, he was standing in Starnberg, where he was wounded and taken prisoner, in the goal of the local football club.
As a co-founder of the TC Starnberg, Hussmüller devoted himself fully to the "white sport", as tennis was once called.
The 94-year-old has lived in Gröbenzell with his wife Roswitha since 1990.
It goes without saying that he joined the tennis club there.
He shaped post-war tennis like no other
And there he was more successful than almost anyone else, not only for the Groebenzeller club.
"You helped shape post-war tennis in Germany, at least in the senior sector, like no other," said the laudation on his 80th birthday.
His last major tournament appearance was nine years ago when he won the men's doubles 85 with Hugo Hahne in Bad Neuenahr.
"Today I keep fit on the wall and still play doubles," said Hussmüller, who enjoys a great reputation in the club.
With the DTB selection, Hussmüller took part in 20 world and 30 European championships, was twice world champion, several times European champion in singles and doubles, without ever having received a single coaching session.
“Without hard work but no price,” says the natural talent.
He always prepared meticulously for every match and the opponent.
“I've always wondered how little intelligent people actually think in games.” He always played to attack, had confidence in his game and, above all, the courage to do so.
This is the only way to explain that Hussmüller was at the top of the podium at the German Championships 36 times and was the only player in all age groups from 45 to 85 to take the crown.
In 50 years he never had to give up injured
Looking back, Hussmüller has never missed a point game or even had to give up a match early in the past 50 years.
"I have always been spared injuries, not least because I have always kept myself fit," says Hussmüller, who once worked as a sales representative for an insulation manufacturer.
"And as long as I stay so healthy, I will also be found on the pitch."
The series
In the coming weeks, the daily newspaper will be introducing athletes who are as fit as the proverbial sneaker at an advanced age.
Anyone who knows senior athletes who are still active with over 75 years of age can contact sport@ffb-tagblatt.de.