Angelique Kerber’s former coach will take on a dual role for the DTB in the future.
Women’s national coach Torben Beltz will also coach the German team at the Billie Jean King Cup in the future. This was announced by the German Tennis Federation (DTB) on Tuesday. Beltz is expected to lead the team back into the World Group this year, succeeding Rainer Schüttler, who resigned as captain after the team’s relegation.
“I’m really looking forward to the task. Our big goal is, of course, to get back into the World Group. But my goal is also to build a great team. We will work towards that,” said Beltz. The 49-year-old, who has been national coach since the end of 2024, will take his place on the bench in his new dual role for the first time in the spring.
First assignment in April
From April 7 to 11, the German women’s team led by Eva Lys will compete in the Europe/Africa I regional group in Portugal. Sixteen national teams will battle it out for three spots in the playoffs in November.
“I didn’t have to think twice and was really excited to get started,” said Beltz, the former successful coach of three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber. “I’ve been working very intensively with our players for a year,” he explained, “so the role of team captain is not a new one for me, but rather a logical continuation of our work together.” Former doubles specialist Jasmin Wöhr will serve as assistant coach. The DTB did not disclose any details of the contract, but Vice President Helmut Schmidbauer provided some insight into the plans. The collaboration with Beltz in his new role is basically “long-term,” he said: “It depends on how the team develops.
How we proceed will depend on how we perform in terms of sport. But you can assume that we want to continue on this path with Torben Beltz and Jasmin Wöhr in the long term.“ It will take ”a certain amount of time to develop,” Schmidbauer added. Schüttler resigned in November after almost six years in office.
Shortly before that, the German team was relegated for the first time since 2012 after defeats in Ismaning against Turkey (1-2) and Belgium (0-2). With the 2003 Australian Open finalist, the German women had reached the Billie Jean King Cup finals three times in the past five years.
