Like little other, Raphael Schmidt combines the two core areas of our TennisTraveller S - Tennis & Travel. As a Lufthansa driver, he travels all of Europe every week and has been an enthusiastic tennis player since childhood. Tennis fascinates and not only employs him as an active team player, but also in very different facets. Whether as a youth leader in the club or as a co -organizer of the Mischa Zverev Club Tour - Raphael's goal is to bring tennis to people and to inspire them. And together with Mischa Zverev, with whom he has been very friends for years, he succeeds in perfect and very successful as part of the Club Tour. In the interview, of course, we also talk about this event tour in German tennis clubs, but much more. A conversation with a TennisTraveller as it is!
Raphael, imagine our community brieflyMy name is Raphael Schmidt, I am 33 years old and I live in Limburg. Professionally, I am employed as a pilot and in my free time I play football and tennis with enthusiasm.
How long have you played tennis, what were your greatest successes and how often do you still play tennis?I've been playing tennis since the age of 4. If the roster allows it, I am also on the pitch several times a week. However, it is often the case that I don't get to train for all weeks. In my youth I won a few smaller tournaments and a district championship, celebrated two ascents in the senior area and today I play with my men's team in the group league.
Raphael with Mischa Zverev
As a Lufthansa pilot, you are traveling a lot in Europe. Always fly your racket with you and do you also play tennis on your target destinations?If I know in advance that I have a longer stay, I take the tennis racket with me. Especially when there are other tennis players in the crew. But often the stays are a little too short for private tennis sessions. What I do more often is my destinations that are so requests (i.e. want the application planning) that I can take a look at professional tournaments, for example in Paris, Rome, Madrid, London or Monte Carlo.
Your job gave you a very special tennis encounter with Mischa Zverev a few years ago. Tell us about it.I completed my pilot training in January 2016. However, since there are always delays in the creation of fully trained pilots in aviation, I still had to wait for my first cockpit setting until November 2017. During this time I worked in the Lufthansa office and were allowed to edit an interesting email from Mischa Zverev. He asked if he could fly in an A320 simulator. As a tennis fan, of course, I used the chance and answered the email, as well as the briefing in the simulator and there has been good friendship to this day. Mischa is also a pilot and has a pilot license for small aircraft. Since then we have been providing each other with stories from the aircraft and tennis world.
Since then you have been organizer of the Mischa Zverev Club Tour. What exactly hides behind it and what goal do you pursue with the commitment?The Mischa Zverev Club Tour started in my home club at TC Dehrn in 2021. As a youth keeper of our club, I wanted to give the club members a small highlight after the Corona years and asked Mischa if he didn't want to play a show fight. Mischa immediately agreed to the idea and we finally put a small event with 450 spectators, food & drink, music and a large raffle. Both the club and Mischa found this event so well that the idea arose to create a Germany -wide club tour that brings professional tennis to the people and the clubs.
What does it mean for you personally to get involved in the club and the club tour for tennis?Of course, I know that personal commitment in the overall picture does little, but it is still a matter of promoting tennis - both in width and in the top. As a youth keeper, I would like to ensure that children play tennis enthusiastically and develop our youth teams positively, as an organizer of the club tour I always find it nice how much Mischa can inspire and motivate members of the attended clubs.
Where did you spend the most beautiful tennis vacation yourself or where was the most beautiful tennis court for you?I can even call several great places. For my 30th birthday, my girlfriend and family gave me a training week in the Rafa Nadal Academy - an incredible experience. Not only the facility and the professional trainers impressed me, but the spirit and fighting spirit of Rafa are also really authentically conveyed. And it was also a special highlight that Rafa Nadal trained there himself and played on the square next to me.
Other impressive tennis courts that I was allowed to visit are the Monte Carlo Country Club in Monaco or the Corinthia St George's Bay in Malta, where we are housed with our aviation crew during stays. There is a tennis court right by the sea - really impressive.
Is there a tennis destination where you like to go on vacation or that you really want to look at?Basically, I would like to visit a lot of tennis systems - I love traveling and I love playing tennis - and I would like to do both for a long time. I still lack the Australian Open on my Grandslam Bucketlist, I would like to tackle that very soon.
And as far as a pure tennis vacation is concerned, I would very much like to visit Andreus Resort Sonnenalm in South Tyrol. We are very happy and grateful that we can also offer this hotel in the form of a raffle to our guests of the club tour. When I got a little informed about it in order to be able to tell the event visitors about it, I noticed that I would be ready and ripe for the next trip to tennis myself.
We report on the Mischa Zverev Club Tour and our cooperation in a separate blog post.
Register now and be the first to know about new tennis hotels and tennis camps as well as great promotions.
You can unsubscribe at any time. Please note our information on data protection .