Crédit photo : @Tennisandco
While she is about to start her 2014 season in Auckland in just few days, Mona Barthel has very kindly taken some of her time to answer my questions for this blog one week ago. The talented German particularly talks about her offseason, her game, but also website design and sewing.
First of all, after a long season you surely enjoyed some well deserved holidays… you are now working for the next season, how is going your preparation at the moment ?
My preparation is going very well, I worked really hard and I am happy about the improvements I made. I am really looking forward to the next tournaments and playing some matches.
Which compartment(s) of your game do you think you still need to improve the most ?
For me the most important things to improve are my seve and my consistency. I think, I already have a good serve, but I feel I have a lot of improvement left there.
Your smooth and agressive game is very pleasant to watch, in addition you come a lot to the net, which is very refreshing in an era where many players prefer to stay on their baseline. Is there a reason you enjoy coming to the net so often ?
Thank you very much for the compliments. I love coming to the net, it’s naturally for me and I think it suits my game really well.
What are your goals for the upcoming season ?
I want to work on my weaknesses and I want to improve my game step by step and hopefully I will climb up the rankings.
What do you like to do to relax ?
I am travelling a lot, but when I have time, I like to see a little bit of the city where I am. Otherwise I like listening to music and meeting friends.
There are a lot of great German players on the tour at the moment, pushing each other up the rankings… I guess it’s very motivating ?
Yes, it’s really nice seeing so many German girls doing well. We are all around the same age, so we were growing up together. It’s really motivating seeing all the other German girls having good results and it’s really nice meeting them on the tournaments.
I heard that when you were growing up your idol was Steffi Graf… What did you admire about her ?
She was such an amazing champion, she was so successfull but at the same time she was really down to earth and it seems to me she really has a nice personality.
You created and update your own website and you also design your tennis dresses. It’s pretty unusual… How came these ideas ?
I learned website design at school and my mom also can do it. We started doing it very early and it is a nice way to communicate with my fans. I do design my own tennis clothes, but I also wear tennis clothes from a brand called Denise Cronwall. I did a lot of designing and sewing in my off season with the help of my mom. I always like to try out new and different things.It is a nice thing to think about something else and being creative.
And to finish, if the Genie asks you what are your three wishes, what would they be ?
Unfortunately I cannot say them, because then they are not getting true 🙂
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