I don’t know about you, but the next few weeks are going to be a real pain in the neck for tennis fans.
It’s all down to catgut racketeers pinging shots from end to end as Wimbledon is transformed into a giant ball-room with Chubby Checker conducting the orchestra and every spectator’s head simultaneously doing the twist .
Try pivoting your neck with a prawn sandwich in one hand and a bowl of strawberries and cream in the other. I guarantee you won’t put on weight unless your mouth is on back to front.
I’m not normally a huge fan of tennis but am rapidly becoming hooked by a rising star who I am convinced has a great future.
His name is Nicola Kuhn, he was born in Austria, is the son of a German father and Russian mother – and is a local lad from Torrevieja., just down the road from where I li
ve in Spain.
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| Nico Kuhn on his way to the German Under-16 title |
To make the European flavour even stronger, 15-year-old Nico and his family have close ties with British neighbours whom he regards as his surrogate grandparents.
The blond Torry bombshell also happens to be one of only two players born in the year 2000 with an official Association of Tennis Professionals ranking. And I am convinced he'll win Wimbledon or one of the other Grand Slam singles titles by the time he's 21.
Nico’s rise and rise has been phenomenal. Hooked on tennis since the age of three, he eats, sleeps and breathes the game.
Last weekend, he was crowned Under-16 champion of Germany, the country he opted to play for when they offered to pay his massive travelling and equipment expenses. The cash-strapped Spanish tennis authorities had been unable to help but I suspect they already regret their decision.
Titles have come thick and fast for Nico, who led Germany to the Under-14 World Junior Championship last year, along with both European team titles, the Winter Cup and Copa Del Sol.
Those successes came after he had emulated Rafa Nadal a decade earlier in reaching the final of the prestigious Les Petits As junior tournament in France.
Kuhn went on to win the 2014 European Junior Masters title and in May, at the age of 15 years and two months, won his first-ever ATP point after being introduced to the professional scene via the $10,000 Futures circuit. Nadal was eight months older when he achieved the same feat.
However, while hyped-up hacks like yours truly get carried away with the idea that Nico is the No.1 15-year-old on the planet, his coach Fran Martinez insists: “We don't want to transmit that he is the best in the world. We like to say that he is in the top group of best players in the world. It is more realistic.''
There is no chance of the young six-footer’s ego disappearing into the clouds, either. Martinez, a former doubles partner of Australian legend Lleyton Hewitt, tells me: “The main objective for the team has been to build a player for the future, not to become obsessed with results now but looking very much at Nico’s development both as a player and also as a human being.''
At the age of 12, Kuhn joined former world No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero’s Equilite Tennis Academy at Villena, near Valencia, where he now lives and trains when he is not travelling between tournaments.
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| Nico and mentor, former World No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero |
“They are doing a very good job,’’ says Nico, who has already attracted lucrative sponsorships from Nike and Yonex.
“Juan Carlos is on court with us most of the days, and that’s very helpful. Everybody at the academy supports everybody else.''
Meanwhile, coach Martinez muses: “Where are Nico's limits? We don't know – he is a very young player with his whole life in front of him. At the moment he is working very hard with humility and we are focusing on the Junior (under 18) circuit and starting to play in ATP Futures events.
“We are very lucky that Juan Carlos Ferrero is very close to him, watching him improve day by day. Next year we want Nico to play all the Junior Grand Slams and compete in more ATP tournaments. ''
Perhaps the best guide to Kuhn's potential is the verdict of Boris Becker, Germany's greatest-ever player, who a couple of years ago labelled Nico ''a better player than I was at his age.''
Coming from Wimbledon's youngest-ever singles champion, that is some compliment.
