Late shifts can be a lot in tennis, from a lavish spectacle to a bleak twilight hour. The so-called night sessions at Grand Slam tournaments like in New York or Melbourne are similar to parties in which the spectators in the stands are exuberant and in the best case transfer their energy to the tennis professionals down on the court. The next morning everyone can have a good sleep, and for the winner of the previous evening, it doesn't even continue until the following day. In other competitions, such as the current Billie Jean King Cup, the late shift can become an ordeal, almost a punishment: Hardly any spectators, no mood, and the players' bodies are still limp from the previous night's work. So there can be nothing with the sporting success, as the team of the German tennis ladies had to experience in the past few days.

Thomas Klemm

Editor in the "Money & More" section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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"The game schedule was unfortunate," said Angelique Kerber on Tuesday evening after she lost 3-0 to Switzerland in the German selection and was eliminated from the team competition. And all that only 22 hours after the 1: 2 opening defeat against hosts the Czech Republic was sealed and the German women didn't sleep until around 3 a.m. at the earliest. After the short night, her body "needed 20, 30 minutes to get going," said Andrea Petković after her 4-6, 5-7 defeat against Viktorija Golubic. Barbara Rittner, Head of Women's Tennis in Germany, judged the circumstances to be more ungracious than her top performers. After the 10,000 spectators on the first day against the Czechs, a maximum of 100 spectators at the high-class encounter with Switzerland on the second day, Rittner found that "really sad".

The world tennis association ITF was responsible for the dreariness, not only giving the traditional Fed Cup the new name Billie Jean King Cup, but also a different format.

Instead of spreading the international matches over several weekends a year and allowing many teams to play atmospheric home games, since this year everything has been whipped through within a week in one place in tournament format.

Rittner doesn't like the new mode at all, Kerber relies on a “process” for the better.

A touch of optimism

The fact that the premiere of the Billie Jean King Cup also happens immediately before the final annual tournament of the eight best tennis women in Mexico is the culmination, but owed to the turmoil of the corona pandemic. That is why there was no big celebrity in Prague, except for the three-time Grand Slam tournament winner Angelique Kerber and the Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, who fought a thrilling duel. Even if the Swiss won 5: 7, 6: 2 and 6: 2 in the end, Kerber looked back on a successful season. "I'm back at the top of the top people," said the 33-year-old from Kiel, who won the tournament in Bad Homburg, reached the semi-finals in Wimbledon and returned to the top ten in the world rankings this week.

Kerber managed the only German success against the world number three Barbora Krejčiková. Nevertheless, there was an air of optimism on the nights in Prague. Not only because it is now time for a well-deserved vacation before the preparations for the coming season begin. But also because two women give hope. Firstly, the 34-year-old Andrea Petković, who wants to continue her professional career. On the other hand, the 22-year-old debutante Jule Niemeier, who demonstrated her clout in the opening doubles with Anna-Lena Friedsam. "In terms of play, she is an absolute top 20 player for me, I tell her that seven or eight times a day," said Petković. Let's see if the 134th in the world rankings will make further progress until the second edition of the Billie Jean King Cup in April 2022. Jule Niemeier is young enough, yesto then go through the tennis nights in Budapest.