Life According to Karsten Braasch
Reuters, CNN-SI.com, the Independent, Observer Sports Monthly, May 2001Karsten Braasch reached the world's top fifty, beat both the Williams sisters in the same afternoon, and almost knocked Pete Sampras out of Wimbledon. Not bad for a man who smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish and serves in a manner that has his fellow professionals giggling in the corridors.
The German's disheveled, unshaven demeanor doesn't exactly go with the traditional image of a spot of tennis, but off the court, Braasch is polite, intelligent and happy to talk about anything. Just don't laugh about his serve to his face. When you watch him hop, skip and jump towards the baseline, you expect him to trip over his own feet, but apparently it's effective.
"Everyone learns his own style," he explains. "Agassi, Sampras - nobody taught them to play the way they do. With me it was just a normal development, and as long as it's working, it doesn't matter."
Sampras found out just how well it worked at Wimbledon in 1995. The defending champion walked onto Centre Court for their first round encounter probably expecting to steamroller Braasch in about an hour. With a mixture of delicate chips and thunderous drives Braasch won the second set, and looked capable of pulling off one of the biggest shocks in Wimbledon history. Sampras dug deep and eventually prevailed, but afterwards paid grudging tribute to his opponent. "He's a pain to play," said Sampras.
The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena wouldn't argue with that assessment.
Bored with the level of competition on the Women's circuit, they decided to challenge one of the men at the 1998 Australian Open. Braasch, who had been on the golf course all morning, fancied it.
"They came into the ATP Office and said that they would like to play one of the men. I just happened to be in the room as they flicked through the ATP media guide. They had seen someone practicing who they thought they could beat, and wanted to know who it was. It was Francisco Clavet, a top 30 men's player. When they said that, there were 10 guys on the floor.
"Then they told us they could beat a man ranked 200 in the world. At the time I was No. 203 so I told them that if they thought they could beat me, we could go out there and find out. With Serena, the score was 6-1 and with Venus, 6-2."
"Afterwards, Venus spoke to the press and said that she could beat someone who was 350 in the world. The thing is, I was due to lose all my points from the 1997 Australian Open the next week so I told the press that we could do it again in a week when I am 350 in the world."
Since then, both Williams sisters have won Grand Slam champion ships, so how about a rematch now?
"I don't think it's necessary," says Braasch. "I don't think you will ever hear anything about men and women's tennis from the Williams sisters again. Sometimes when I walk past them at a Grand Slam tournament, they don't say anything. Maybe they don't see me, but maybe they are still a little bit embarrassed."
Braasch generally smokes 15 cigarettes each day, and he admits to having drunk a couple of shandies the morning of the match with the Williams sisters, but he showed that he could still compete with the best in a career spanning 14 years. He racked up wins over Stefan Edberg and Ivan Lendl among others and played in the German Davis Cup team.
At 33, he won't be around forever, but he isn't ready to retire yet.
"If I can still compete, I will play," he says. "As long as people still want to watch me and don't wonder what this old guy is still doing out there."
Until they do, he can expect nothing but the silent treatment from the Williams sisters.
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