Jil Teichmann

The proud Swiss with the Spanish flair

Jil Teichmann combines the best of both worlds.

Born in Barcelona and raised between the Spanish city and Switzerland, having Swiss parents, the 25-year-old left-hander plays tennis with a lot of Spanish flair, interlacing her entertaining game style with dropshots, lobs, deft touches and all-court athleticism. She is currently ranked in the top 30 on the women’s tour and has Andrew Bettles as her coach.

Although Teichmann once confessed to having “Spanish rhythm in my blood,” she competes for Switzerland, her home country.

She wouldn’t have it any other way. While growing up in Barcelona, Teichmann was immersed in Swiss culture. She went to a Swiss school, and spoke Swiss-German at home with her parents.

Victory for Switzerland in the finals of the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup was “probably one of my biggest highlights, or even the highlight of my career,” she said. After Teichmann got the Swiss off to a winning start with a hard-fought three-set win over Australia’s Storm Sanders, Olympic singles champion Belinda Bencic brought home the win for Switzerland with a straight-sets win against Ajla Tomljanovic.

“It was a very special and inspirational moment because winning this with the girls was amazing,” said Teichmann. “We had been working for many years together as a team, wanting to achieve that goal. And then two years ago we were in the final. We lost, and that hurt really badly. So to come out the year after and win it was amazing.”

Swiss players often get asked about the now retired Roger Federer. How does Teichmann view his achievements?

“For me, Roger is the greatest of all time, in many aspects,” said Teichmann. “He has helped Swiss tennis a lot. He has opened up many, many doors in our own country for fans, for sponsors, for tournaments.”

Just like Federer, Teichmann is multi-lingual (she speaks five languages). But playing the game like the Swiss maestro is a different challenge altogether. “I try to look like him when I hit my serve-and-volley and super not stressed, but it’s not really working out,” she said, before bursting out laughing. “He’s just kind of perfection. It’s super nice to watch him, and we all miss him.”

Three years after making her debut on the WTA Tour, Teichmann won her first 2 titles, on clay in Prague and Palermo, both in 2019. She has surged up the rankings in the past three seasons, reaching a career-high of No 21 in 2022 after a strong showing on the clay.

The secret of her success?—working hard. “My game has a lot of variety,” she said, “so I had to work on different things, make them better, work on the physical and the mental side. There isn’t any secret to it, it’s just putting in the work,” she said.

Teichmann’s main career goal is to become a Top 10 player and “win as many matches as possible and, honestly, live an injury-free career and enjoy every single moment I can.”

Competing on the global WTA Tour can be tough for some players, but for the free-spirited Teichmann, it is a great way to discover new cultures and food.  A self-confessed foodie, she keeps notes in her phone on every restaurant in every city she plays in, so she can remember them in the future.  

“My favourite place to find good food?—probably Madrid. It’s very interesting, and Rome as well. And New York, you can find anything there.”

WORDS BY DANIELLE ROSSINGH