Tennis player Maxi Homberg (17) on the move into the junior elite

Tennis player Maxi Homberg played a strong year despite Corona.

In January, Freising could start in a Junior Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

Freising / Oberhaching

- It is a sporting year under difficult conditions: The pandemic has also paralyzed the national and international tennis circus in phases, numerous tournaments had to be canceled.

Maxi Homberg, 17 years old and a future tennis professional, is nevertheless satisfied with this year: "Despite all the restrictions, I have survived the Corona period very well so far," says the Freising man.

The numbers and successes prove his assessment.

"2020 is a very important year for me - maybe even a decisive one", Maxi Homberg emphasized again and again.

The next step in his career plan was clearly defined, the 17-year-old wanted to enter the top 250 of the youth world rankings by the end of December at the latest.

And he has already achieved that: Maxi is currently in 237th position. "After the first lockdown, things went pretty well for me overall," he looks back.

Victory at the ITF junior tournament in Cyprus

The successes are impressive: In June and July, Maxi Homberg played in a series of invitation tournaments of the German Tennis Association (DTB) for youngsters under 17 - and secured the overall victory.

"So it got off to a great start." At the Bavarian U18 championship, he was eliminated in the semifinals after two smooth successes. "Unfortunately, I had a bad day".

Things went all the better at an ITF junior tournament in Cyprus at the end of August and beginning of September, where he prevailed in both singles and doubles.

And in Romania, Maxi's singles only reached the semi-finals against the then number 30 in the youth world rankings.

He has also done well in men's prize money tournaments in Germany and thrown one or the other strong opponent out of the competition.

These successes are of course not by chance: Maxi presented himself strongly in a performance diagnostic test of the DTB at the Munich Olympic base.

“It went much better than the test shortly after the first corona lockdown,” says the 17-year-old, who was also shown what he still had to work on: “The speed and the jumping ability are still my weak points.” At the moment he has enough time to work on them.

At the moment, basic training is on the agenda at the Oberhaching tennis base: body build-up, a lot of fitness, endurance, strength, coordination - everything you need to get started.

It is not certain whether this will still work this year: A number of tournaments have - or will probably still be - canceled.

This may also apply to the Orange Bowl in Florida in December, which Maxi would of course like to attend.

The level A tournament is one of the most important worldwide for juniors and is therefore very well known.

“It's a kind of Grand Slam tournament,” explains the 17-year-old.

"As things stand at the moment, I should start qualifying.

However, it is the case in the USA that if you have a positive corona test you are not allowed to leave the country until you have been tested negative again.

That would be a problem. "

Maxi Homberg is also facing an important year at school

Participation in the Orange Bowl would of course be important in order to make another leap forward in the youth world rankings.

"It would be great if I could still make it into the top 200 by the turn of the year", emphasizes Maxi Homberg.

The Junior Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne is set to take place in January - "Of course, it would be important if I could make it into the main draw with a better placement and save myself qualifying."

As with the Junior Grand Slam in Paris, it could fall victim to Corona if the organizer wants to prevent too many players from coming.

The Australian Open would be his first big tournament of its kind. Of course, there is a question mark behind the event.

On the other hand, Corona shouldn't throw a spanner in the works for a milestone in his young life: Maxi is attending the twelfth grade of the private high school in Schwetzingen near Mannheim - the 2021 Abi exams are not far.

“I manage all of this well,” says Maxi.

“Everything is okay.” The 17-year-old takes the train to Mannheim every Monday, and there are currently a number of exams at school.

But learning is done in homeschooling at the tennis base in Oberhaching.

"I am happy that we as team athletes are allowed to continue training there under strict conditions," says Maxi.

"I'm doing my best and I'm sure there won't be something like a Corona class in tennis."

Also read: Tennis talent Maxi Homberg: With power serves from the Corona break