George Loffhagen was pulling pints in a pub a little over a year ago, and considered giving up his dream of playing tennis professionally… but Tuesday at Wimbledon will be beyond his wildest dreams
- George Loffhagen considered giving up playing professional tennis a year ago
- Back in 2021 he was pulling pints in a pub, but this week he’ll play at Wimbledon
- He’ll play in the first round of the men’s singles against world No 6 Holger Rune
George Loffhagen was pulling pints in a Marble Arch pub at the end of 2021 and his world ranking had disappeared by last summer, as he considered giving up on his dream of making it as a professional tennis player.
Having not played tennis for a year, he enrolled at Loughborough University last September but quickly decided conventional student life was not for him.
Loffhagen decided to give tennis one last shot. Nevertheless, after starting 2023 ranked 982nd in the world, Tuesday at Wimbledon will be beyond his wildest dreams.
Loffhagen will take to the court against world No 6 Holger Rune, often mentioned alongside Carlos Alcaraz and Casper Ruud as the future of the game.
The match will probably be allocated to a show court, where Loffhagen is likely to be cheered on by thousands of Brits and millions more tuning in on television.
George Loffhagen (pictured above) a little over a year ago thought he would give up on his dream of playing professional tennis
But this week he’ll play in the opening round of Wimbledon against World No 6 Holger Rune (pictured above)
Asked how he would react if told last year he would play in the Wimbledon main draw, the 22-year-old says: ‘I would have said, “It’s not true, you are joking”.
‘I am so happy to be in a position where I can play a match at Wimbledon and make memories.
‘I’ll never forget playing on, I guess maybe a big court. I won’t forget that very easily! I just want to enjoy the experience and play well.
‘My parents will be there and my sisters. My family has been really good. I am quite keen for them to come and watch. I was in the gym at the National Tennis Centre scrolling Twitter when I saw my draw — I did not expect to play Rune, but it is a very good opportunity.’
Loffhagen was born in Ealing to an English father and Nigerian mother. A promising teenaged player, he nearly gave up on tennis after frustrations over not progressing. ‘The main reason why I took time out was because I struggled with expectations,’ he says.
‘The time away helped me to mature a bit and put things into perspective. That allows me to enjoy my time on court a bit more. In my time away I worked at a pub and some studying.
‘I have always loved playing tennis but outside factors prevented me from enjoying my tennis. I am just happy to be back playing and that’s the main thing at the moment.
Loffhagen was last year pulling pints in a pub in Marble Arch before going on to become a student at Loughborough University
Loffhagen admitted to coming back ‘because he didn’t want to have any regrets’ and said he is looking forward to making memories at Wimbledon this week
‘I came back because I wanted to play again and not have any regrets.
‘I didn’t want, in 10 or 15 years time, to be saying, “Could this have happened?”.’
The differences between world No367 Loffhagen and the Wimbledon sixth seed might be a chasm too far for the Londoner to handle.
But after dealing with the weekend rush in a busy central London pub, he should be able to hndle a shift at Wimbledon.