Schwerin tennis star Niels McDonald in the Junior final of the French Open!

Schwerin tennis star Niels McDonald in the Junior final of the French Open!

The Schwerin tennis talent Niels McDonald reached a historic milestone at the French Open in Paris on June 6, 2025: it is in the final of the junior competition. At the age of only 17, McDonald defeated the Japanese player Ryo Tabata with 6: 2, 6: 2 in just 55 minutes. This marks the first time that two German tennis players, McDonald and his friend Max Schönhaus from Soest, meet in the final of a Grand Slam tournament in the junior singles, such as ndr reported.

The anticipation for the final is enormous, and McDonald has already spoken his big dream: "I continue to accelerate." He describes the experience in Paris as "an incredible experience" and feels honored to sit in the cabin next to the Italian professional Jannik Sinner, the leader in the men's world rankings. McDonald was born in Cardiff, Wales, but came to Schwerin at the age of four and bears both the German and Welsh citizenship, playing for Germany and training in Sweden reports Ostsee-Zeitung .

unique services and challenges

For McDonald, the final on Saturday will also be a special challenge, because Schönhaus won 6: 3, 6: 4 in the semi -finals against Bulgarian Ivan Ivanov. This is the first achievement of a junior final for Schönhaus since Alexander Zverev in 2013. Zverev had lost his final against Cristian Garín at the time and is the last German player who won the junior individual in a Grand Slam when he won in Australia in 2014. McDonald, on the other hand, only competed for the second time at a junior Grand Slam tournament after he was eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open 2025, reports ndr .

The targeted training and promotion of the German Tennis Federation (DTB) play a crucial role for talents like McDonald. In the youth and young talent area, talents are systematically searched for that have the potential to enter international competitive sports. The aim is to place a high number of players among the top 100 of the ATP and WTA rankings and thus to represent the German tennis on the big stages of the world, as described on the website of the dtb

The challenges in the transition from youth to adult tennis are considerable. Players between the ages of 15 and 19 have to face an increased pressure to perform, which affects the private environment in addition to the sporty. By promoting talents and creating optimal training conditions, the performance potential of young athletes is to be fully exploited, which is of great importance for McDonald and his peers.

All in all, Niels McDonald can proudly look back on his extraordinary performance in Paris, while he is preparing for the final that could be the next step in his promising career.