Jule Niemeier

Jule Niemeier has a tattoo on her left arm of a mountain peak, with the word “Perseverance”written underneath it. The tattoo sums up the rising German star’s career and life – and long road to the top.

Born in Dortmund, the German No 1 first picked up a racquet at the age of three, when she wanted to play tennis in the street with her older brothers, Jona and Nils. A keen golfer and footballer in her spare time, Niemeier is a fan of the Bundesliga football team Borussia Dortmund.

Nicknamed “Jules” or “Juli”, Niemeier has an unusual game style. While most tennis teens prefer to play the game from the back of the court, the tall German combines a huge serve and powerful groundstrokes with strong net play.

“When I started playing tennis, it was not that I really focused on special shots like drop shots or volleying,” Niemeier told wtatennis.com in 2021. “It was just there. I always felt like I don't really need to spend that much time on court.”

At the age of 15, Niemeier made a decision that would change her life. In order to advance her tennis career, she left Dortmund to live and train at the Alexander Waske Tennis University in Offenbach, a three-hour drive away from her family home.

In May 2022, Niemeier told the Behind the Racquet podcast the move was “definitely the most difficult and painful decision I had to make, because I loved to be at home with my family and friends.”

Her decision to leave her family was even harder because she was often homesick and didn’t like travelling. “Fortunately, it was the right decision and was crucial to develop and grow as a person because I had to overcome some tough years with a lot of injuries and physical
problems,” she said.

The move paid off as Niemeier soon cracked the top 30 of the junior rankings. But her career then stalled as she was plagued by injuries, including a shoulder problem when she was a junior, followed by a back injury in 2019.

Because of the injuries Niemeier decided to move to Regensburg in March 2021 to work closely with Florian Zitzelsberger from Integralis. In the same time she also started training in the BeTennisBase in Regensburg with head coach Michael Geserer.

Things started to fall into place already in 2022, when Niemeier stunned the tennis world reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals in just her second Grand Slam event.

“I’m trying to be creative on court,” Niemeier told reporters at the All England Club after beating Heather Watson in straight sets in the fourth round. “I can play fast, I can play slower, use the slice, drop shots.” Niemeier trains with the former German doubles player Christopher Kas in the Bavarian town of Regensburg. “That’s what I’m trying to do, just mix it up a bit on court so the opponent doesn’t know what is coming.”

Niemeier backed up her strong showing on the Wimbledon lawns with an impressive run at the US Open, where she took a set off the world No 1 and eventual winner Iga Swiatek of Poland in the fourth round.

Ranked outside the top 100 in 2021, Niemeier finished 2022 as the world No 66 and perhaps more importantly, the top-ranked German woman. With three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber off on maternity leave, and Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria and former Wimbledon runner-up Sabine Lisicki now well into their 30s, it looks like Niemeier will be flying the flag for German tennis in years to come.

Niemeier’s rise has impressed Barbara Rittner, the head of women’s tennis at the German tennis federation (DTB). “She is a very intelligent player and has incredible hands,” Rittner told the German TV show Sportschau. “Jule has all the weapons for a top player. I think she could be top 20 in the world.”

WORDS BY DANIELLE ROSSINGH