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Wimbledon draw leaves Germans out in cold

As the tennis world gears up for the high point of the year at Wimbledon, starting on Monday the seedings have been released and the draws made. For the first time since 1998, there isn't a single German seed in the men's draw.

Wimbledon draw leaves Germans out in cold
Philipp Kohlschreiber at Wimbledon in 2014. Photo: DPA

 The top 32 ranked players in the men's draw have the luxury of avoiding each other in the early rounds, but no German players feature in the top category this year.

Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany's highest ranked player, just misses out, as he places 33rd in the world.

His best performance at a Grand Slam did come at Wimbledon back in 2012, when he reached the quarter-finals, but he will have to recapture that form to have any chance of beating his first round opponent on Monday.

He will face the mammoth task of playing reigning champion and world number one Novak Djokovic. The unkind draw is the perfect example of why it is such an advantage to be seeded.

“The more senior generation of players like Kohlschreiber and Florian Meyer has simply failed to meet the high expectations.

“This is an absolute nadir in men's tennis,” editor of Tennis Magazin Tim Böseler told The Local on Friday.

“But also Kohlschreiber was unlucky to miss out on the top 32 because his ranking suffered after losing to Federer recently,” he added.

The only other two German players in the top 100 are Benjamin Becker (51) and Alexander Zverev (76).

To put this into context, other major European nations like France and Spain have a much greater pool of talent.

France has four seeds in the men's draw, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (12), Giles Simon (13), Gael Monflis (18), and Richard Gasquet (20), as well as a further six players in the top 100.

Spain boasts the best group of players, with six seeds, Rafael Nadal (10), Feliciano Lopez (16), Tommy Robredo (19), Roberto Bautista Agut (22), and Guillemo Garcia-Lopez (32), and six others in the top 100.

A graph showing the dire straits men tennis finds itself in. Photo: The Local

The state of women's tennis is much healthier in Germany, with three players seeded for Wimbledon.

They are Angelique Kerber (10), Andrea Petkovic (14), and Sabine Lisicki (18), who got to the final in 2013. Six other female players occupy places in the top 100.

Kerber got to the quarter-finals last year, and could be in with a chance of going further this year.

Böseler said that the women were currently taking full advantage of receiving more funding than the men, but said that “a lot of credit for the women's success must go to captain of the Women's Fed Cup team, Barbara Rittner, who has been doing good work for years.”

Historically WImbledon has been a happy hunting ground for German players, but this era now seems a distant memory.

The only German ever to win the Ladies title in the Open era is Steffi Graf, who became champion seven times.

The last time she was crowned queen of the All England Club was in 1996, and only legend Martina Navratilova has won it more times.

German domination: Legends Steffi Graf and Boris Becker show of their Wimbledon trophies in 1989. Photo: DPA

The last German to win Wimbledon men's title was Michael Stich in 1991, and Boris Becker also won the title in 1985, 1986, and 1989.

This year a total of eight Germans will compete in the men's draw after Dustin Brown and Michael Berrer made it through the qualification rounds.

But it's not all doom and gloom, Böseler noted.

“There are high hopes for 18 year-old debutant Alexander Zverev, who could have a big future ahead of him,” he said.

Check out both the men's and women's draws in full here

By Matty Edwards

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CRIME

Spain women’s World Cup players demand more heads roll as Rubiales in court

The crisis within Spanish football deepened Friday as the women's World Cup winners demanded more heads roll at its scandal-hit RFEF federation whose disgraced ex-boss appeared in court on sexual assault charges.

Spain women's World Cup players demand more heads roll as Rubiales in court

Just hours after Luis Rubiales was quizzed by a judge for kissing midfielder Jenni Hermoso, all but two of Spain’s 23 World Cup players said they would not don the national shirt without deeper changes within the RFEF, demanding its current interim head also resign.

The statement came as the squad’s new coach Montse Tome was to announce the lineup for two upcoming UEFA Women’s Nations League matches against Sweden and Switzerland, which was promptly postponed, federation sources said.

“The changes put in place are not enough,” said a statement signed by 39 players, among them 21 of the 23 World Cup winners.

Demanding “fundamental changes to the RFEF’s leadership”, they called for the “resignation of the RFEF president” Pedro Rocha, who took over as interim leader when FIFA suspended Rubiales on August 26.

But the federation insisted Rocha would “lead the transition process within the RFEF until the next election”, insisting any changes would be made “gradually”.

A federation source said a leadership election could take place early next year.

“This institution is more important than individuals and it’s crucial it remains strong. We’ll work tirelessly to create stability first in order to progress later,” Rocha said in the statement.

Despite a string of recent changes, the federation remains in the hands of officials appointed by Rubiales, and the players are demanding structural changes “within the office of the president and the secretary general”.

Brought to court by a kiss

The bombshell came after days of optimism within the RFEF that the players would come round after it sacked controversial coach Jorge Vilda, appointed Tome in his stead and pledged further changes, not to mention Rubiales’ long-awaited resignation on Sunday.

On August 25, 81 Spain players, including the 23 world champions, had started a mass strike saying they would not play for the national team without significant changes at the head of the federation.

Earlier on Friday, Rubiales appeared in court where he was quizzed by Judge Francisco de Jorge who is heading up the investigation into the kiss, which sparked international outrage and saw him brought up on sexual assault charges.

At the end of the closed-door hearing, in which Rubiales repeated his claim that the kiss was consensual, the judge ordered him not to come within 200 metres of Hermoso and barred him from any contact with the player.

At the weekend, the 46-year-old had described the kiss as “a spontaneous act, a mutual act, an act that both consented to, which was… 100 percent non-sexual” in an interview with British broadcaster Piers Morgan.

Hermoso, 33, has insisted it was not, describing it as “an impulsive, macho act, out of place and with no type of consent on my part”.

Speaking to reporters outside court, Hermoso’s lawyer Carla Vall said they were “very satisfied” with the hearing.

“Thanks to this video, everyone can see there was no consent whatsoever and that is what we will demonstrate in court.”

Allegations of coercion

Hermoso herself will also testify before the judge at some stage, who will then have to decide whether or not to push ahead with the prosecution. No date has been given for her testimony.

The complaint against Rubiales, which was filed by the public prosecutors’ office, cites alleged offences of sexual assault and coercion.

Under a recent reform of the Spanish penal code, a non-consensual kiss can be considered sexual assault, a category which groups all types of sexual violence.

If found guilty, Rubiales could face anything from a fine to four years in prison, sources at the public prosecutors’ office have said.

In their complaint, prosecutors explained the offence of coercion related to Hermoso’s statement saying she “and those close to her had suffered constant ongoing pressure by Luis Rubiales and his professional entourage to justify and condone” his actions.

At the hearing, Rubiales also denied coercion.

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