"Wimbledon was the turning point of my career" says German tennis player Andreas Mies
Andreas Mies is a German tennis player. He broke into the Top 100 in the ATP doubles ranking this year. He also made it to the third round of Wimbledon in the Men's Doubles category. He won his first ATP Challenger Open in Garden Open which was held in Rome.
In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Mies talks about his performance at Wimbledon and other accomplishments.
What inspired you to choose tennis as your career?
Mies: I started watching tennis when I was a little boy. When I was six years old I started watching tennis, especially at Wimbledon. And I also started playing tennis at that age. From the first moment I fell in love with that sport and to me it was always clear to become a tennis professional.
After I finished my high school in Germany and my studies in the U.S. it was the right step for me and always a dream to become a tennis professional and to choose this as my career because I don’t see it as a job. For me, it’s like a hobby.
So, I was just always inspired by tennis and just fell in love with that sport and wanted to be a professional as long as I remember. A dream came true and I’m working hard to make a living out of it. Not only a hobby and just for fun but also to make a living out of it.
Recently, you broke down into the Top 100 for the very first time. What does it mean to you?
Mies: Breaking into the Top 100 was always a big goal for me that I had in the back of my head. I always wanted to do it in singles but I chose a different path due to some injury. But still, a dream came true to break into the Top 100 in doubles. I worked very hard for it and it’s nice to see that it finally pays off. Definitely a big achievement for me. It’s a big milestone that I just reached. Now going from here and try to achieve bigger things in the future.
You and Kevin Krawietz entered as qualifiers in Wimbledon and you were successful to make it to the third round. How would you like to analyse your performance out there?
Mies: I and Kevin had a lot of confidence going into Wimbledon because we played good at the Challengers leading up to the event and we improved match by match. We actually took match by match and played better each day. Every win gave us a lot of confidence. We knew we could do well and after we won the first round we knew everything was open because we believed in us and we knew that we have a great level to compete even at the Grand Slams.
After our second round win where we played our best match of the event gave us so much confidence going into the third round against Bryan/Sock. Unluckily, we didn’t use the two match points we had in the fifth set and they went on to win the tournament. But I would rate our performance very high. We played a great level for the whole two weeks with qualifying and improved as a team. We built our strength and we helped each other a lot in the tournaments we played and Wimbledon was definitely the biggest highlight of our partnership so far.
How would you like to describe the German tennis culture?
Mies: I would say it’s a complex question. I can only talk from my experience. And in my opinion, the German tennis culture or the German tennis, in general, is at a good level right now. I mean, even though we don’t have tennis players like Boris Becker or Steffi Graff at the moment, we have good tennis players.
I mean with Alexander Zverev who is number three in the world and Angelique Kerber who just won Wimbledon and won her third Grand Slam. So, it’s actually the situation in Germany that you don’t really hear that much in the media about tennis but I would say there is like a little tennis boom in Germany.
As a little child, I started playing tennis and I was always taught to focus on singles. Most of the Germans are completely focused on singles and it’s hard to find professional doubles know-how in most of the German clubs. I learned to play profound doubles during college tennis in the U.S.
Which particular match/tournament would you like to call as the turning point of your career?
Mies: Yes, I would actually say the Wimbledon is a special moment for me and I can describe this moment and the tournament as the turning point of my tennis career. Because I used to play a lot of matches on the Future and Challenger level and to see at the Grand Slam where my level is at and to play this particular match against Bryan/Sock – at this moment I realized that my level is at a high standard. That I can play on a high level and I can compete with the best of the doubles game. It gave me a lot of confidence and I would call this match as the turning point of my career. Not even the wins before that match.
I realized a lot especially in this match against Bryan/Sock. It gave me a lot of confidence and a lot of belief for the future that we can make it in doubles. And that we cannot only play against the best teams in the world but we can also beat them. Coming close to beating them and holding two match points, in the end, was a special moment and especially playing at Wimbledon – at the biggest event that we have in tennis – was a big confidence boost and hopefully the starting point of a successful professional career in tennis. And going from here now towards making the next step to the ATP level.
How would you like to describe the moment when you won your first ATP Challenger Open?
Mies: I can recall it very well. I remember a lot from my first Challenger title. I remember it very well because it was last year in Rome and I won it with one of my best friends on the tour with Oscar Otte. It was a special feeling because I was coming from the Future tour and I played for a few months on the Challenger tour.
Of course, you want to make the next step and you want to see if you can win the Challenger events. And I was making progress as I was coming close to win it and making two finals before but not taking it. And then finally I took it last year in Rome. We saved five match points in that final and we were coming from behind all the match and they were serving for the match when they had match points, we were just hanging in there. And the moment when we used our first match point was so special.
It was a big relief for me to win a Challenger title in order to win even more after that and I won. The first one you would say is the hardest one and it becomes a bit easier because you have less pressure in the next final. You think already okay, you won one final and it takes a bit pressure off and gave me a lot of confidence for the other Challengers. And then the next titles came a little faster and easier. I want to do the same on the ATP Tour hopefully.
There are various young tennis players who wish to represent the nation in the future. What piece of advice would you like to give to them?
Mies: The best advice I can give to the kids is that passion about tennis or any sports in general or anything they do in life. But especially in tennis, I can give them the advice to always try your best, believe in yourself. Yeah, the two biggest things are to believe in yourself and to work hard. And things will come.
You know, you can achieve anything in life if you believe in yourself and if you work hard. And I realized that because I achieved some big goals for me in my career now. Playing my first Grand Slam and reaching Top 100 and going forward to achieve even more things. That’s actually the best advice I can give. To believe in yourself that’s the most important. Because there are always people that try to talk you down.
Surround yourself with the right people, work hard and be positive and the things will come with time. Always give your best. So, that’s very important. That’s not a guarantee that you make it but you have good chances and you give yourself the best possible chance to make it. I mean I haven’t really made it yet. Obviously, you have to have talent, you have to sacrifice, you have to have a good amount of dedication to the sport and you have to be passionate. But most important is to believe and work hard.