The new star in the German tennis sky

Great careers often start in small places. For Justin Engels, Uslar in southern Lower Saxony could have been such a place. Engels won his first ITF tennis tournament on German soil there in July. Engels had previously shown his potential in Villach, Austria, and celebrated his debut title at ITF level.

At the age of 16 years and 231 days, he replaced Mischa Zverev as the youngest German tournament winner at ITF level to date.

Almost five months after his first ITF tournament victory, Engels celebrated his first individual success on the ATP tour at the age of 17 years and 14 days.

In Almaty, Kazakhstan, Engel became the youngest winner of a tour match since Carlos Alcaraz in Rio 2020 on the Janeiro. With a 7:5, 6:4 first round win against Coleman Wong from Hong Kong (ATP 133rd), number 458 in the world rankings fueled hopes of a new German tennis star.

In addition to Engels, who started in the main draw in Almaty thanks to a wildcard, and Alcaraz, other stars celebrated their first individual success on the ATP tour at 17. Felix Auger-Aliassime won at 17 in Indian Wells in 2018, Jannik Sinner in Budapest in 2019 and Lorenzo Musetti in Rome in 2020.

The omens for Engel’s career are good. He now concentrates 100 percent on sport. With his intermediate school leaving certificate under his belt, the Nuremberg native puts everything on tennis. Engels is trained and accompanied primarily by his father Horst.

He was himself the European champion in the men’s 45 category and once trained number 46 in the women’s world rankings with Anca Barna. In addition, DTB trainer Jan Velthuis and ex-professional Philipp Petzschner are also on the English side.

At his young age, Engels is also not lacking in self-confidence, as he is fine-tuning himself for the professional business in Nuremberg and at the tennis base in Oberhaching near Munich. “I have a plan and a goal for my life. “It sounds stupid, but I have more experience with 16 than many 19/20-year-olds,” said only child Engels in a recent DTB interview.

There he also revealed his role model: “I admire Rafael Nadal, the way he presents himself on the court, the way he pushes himself, the way he fights.” I can identify with that. I’m also a fighter on the pitch and do everything I can to win. Or with Novak Djokovic with his strict nutrition plan. These are players that I learn things from. I would like to train against Djokovic to see what the pace is like and what it is like to play points against him.”

However, Engels has to play for the next points against Francisco Cerundolo in the second round in Almaty. The Argentine is number 31 in the world and is in the round of 16 of the French Open this year. There he lost to Djokovic in five sets.

While Djokovic is the most successful tennis player to date with his 24 Grand Slam tournament victories, you can find a video from Engel on YouTube that shows him as an eleven-year-old at a youth tournament in France in 2019. The video has been viewed just over 2,250 times and has 13 likes.

If Engel’s career continues to gain momentum, this inconspicuous video of his defeat from a French tennis hall will likely be dug out of the archives often.