Wimbledon dream drives German Sky Sports Scholar Daniel Altmaier
Thursday 19 October 2017 10:44, UK
Daniel Altmaier is the first Sky Sports Scholar outside of the UK and Ireland to be unveiled and if his tactics and ambitions are anything to go by, it won't be long until he's grabbing even bigger headlines.
The 19-year-old tennis star from Kemper in Germany has slowly made his way up the rankings and should continue to do so with the help of Sky's finance and developmental and mentoring support.
"My big goal is to win a Grand Slam," said Altmaier. "My big dream would be to win at Wimbledon. I also want to be a good example for younger kids to do the right thing and to learn from other mistakes and do better.
"Being a Scholar is such a great opportunity. I'm really looking forward to these next three and a half years. It's a huge experience and it's going to really help my development in tennis.
"I met Tony Lester (Head of Scholarships) in Munich and he was really interested in my story and my career and it means so much for me to be chosen.
"The money will really help me but it's not the main part. It will be more about who I meet at Sky and learning to act in front of the camera.
"I will build up some great contacts at Sky and meet a lot of hugely experienced people. I just want to learn as much as possible."
Altmaier reached a career-best ranking of 210 in the world this summer, boosted by two impressive qualifying wins on his ATP main draw debut at the 2017 Geneva Open. He lost in the first round to American Sam Querrey.
He also made the quarter-finals in his first ATP tour-level tournament in Turkey thanks to two victories decided by a third-set tie-break.
"I have developed my career step by step," added Altmaier who begun playing tennis aged five and is now based in Berlin.
"It wasn't one big tournament and I was there suddenly. It's been a slow build-up.
"Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka are the top players I most admire. Stan has a similar game to me where I like to control things!
"I don't like defence and just waiting for my opponent's mistakes. I like to be the actor on the court where I control the game. I'm aggressive and different and I like to be unpredictable, but not in a wild way - just a tactical way!"
Being a full-time tennis player and now a Sky Sports Scholar, it will be a busy few years for Altmaier but when he needs downtime there's only one thing he's going to swap his racket for.
"Fishing is one of my passions," he said. "I've been going with my dad since I was six. It makes me feel so relaxed close to the water. I've never fished in the sea so it's more likely to be in a river or lake.
"Sometimes I do think about fishing on the court. But I absolutely love tennis - that's my business and that's my life."
Sky Sports will have all the action from the Erste Bank Open and Swiss Indoors Basel before the Paris Masters.
The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and season-ending extravaganza World Tour Finals at London's O2 in November end another memorable year which will be covered via our website www.skysports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax.
On the move? Head to our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Who will win the World Tour Finals this year? Have your say...
