Daniel Altmaier, a revolutionary racket in Latin America

Cabo San Lucas, BCS.—German culture is considered one of the strictest yet most effective in various fields, including sports. However, one tennis player left Germany to find a new vision in Latin America.

This is Daniel Altmaier, a former top 50 player in the world who is in Mexico this week to compete in the Los Cabos Open (ATC).

“(In Latin America) there's a good energy, people treat each other well, and that's something I value a lot in my life,” Altmaier said in an interview with El Economista prior to his debut as the fifth seed at the ATP 250 tournament in Baja California.

Altmaier was born 26 years ago in Kempen, Germany, a city just over 500 kilometers from the capital, Berlin. According to his biography on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) website, he began playing at age seven.

His life took a turn in 2019, when he moved to Argentina to work with coach Francisco Yunis. He even spent the lockdown there, more than 12,000 kilometers from home, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, he began working with another Argentine coach, Alberto Mancini, with whom he continues. He has also been in a relationship with a Mexican woman for four years, so he is constantly moving between these two countries.

--What does Latin America mean to you, both in tennis and in general?

" I feel like it's part of my life now. I spend a lot of time here; it's my second home, as many say. It really is. I also see myself spending a lot of time in Mexico in the future. My team is from Latin America, and the day-to-day work we do is truly unique and special, in a way that doesn't exist in Europe."

In an interview with the Argentine media outlet La Nación in June 2025, Altmaier had already highlighted his preference for training as a tennis player in South America.

"I feel like the Argentine school is very comprehensive, more complex than the German one, not only in tennis, but also in physical preparation. It prepares you to try to play well for 11 months, and that's very good, very competitive. It helped me not view tennis in weeks, but rather as a long process."

That same topic arose before his first appearance at the Los Cabos Open, where he started as the fifth seed behind Andrey Rublev, Alejandro Davidovich, Denis Shapovalov, and Quentin Halys.

“I feel that the best thing (about the job in Latin America) is the discipline,” begins the German, who speaks fairly fluent Spanish.

“In English, we call it commitment. People are very engaged with the project, which is my team, and that also gives me a lot of confidence, that continuity and consistency in my work. The truth is, that's also reflected on the pitch, when I'm happy and more relaxed.”

Since he started training in Latin America, Altmaier has had his best results: quarterfinals at the Madrid Open (2023) and round of 16 at Roland Garros (2020 and 2025), which are his highest achievements, so far, in a Masters 1000 and Grand Slam, respectively.

Among those achievements are five victories against top-10 players, including current world ranking leader Jannik Sinner, in the second round of Roland Garros 2023.

Mexico was also part of this statistic, after eliminating Alexander Zverev in the first round of the Acapulco Open (ATP 500 category) in 2024. The other top 10 players he has surpassed are Matteo Berrettini, Andrey Rublev, and Tayklor Fritz.

Latin America hasn't only had this impact on Altmaier in terms of tennis. His off-court personality also reflects smiles and kindness.

The La Nación report also featured photographs taken from his Instagram account in which he is celebrating Argentina's 2022 World Cup title among the country's crowd.

“I feel the culture is very pleasant. I can talk more about Mexico because I spend a lot of time here. It's a good energy that I try to convey; I feel like they're very natural here. That's true everywhere, but I think here in Mexico, in particular, the kindness of the people is very noticeable.”

Consistency in the ranking

Daniel Altmaier achieved a career-high ranking of 47th in October 2023. He currently sits at 61st.

Since April 2024, he has hovered around the top 100 (only leaving that range for one week, in January 2025), but one of his goals is to remain consistently in the top 50 to gain some benefits in terms of ATP Tour appearances.

“Being in the top 50 makes a big difference because you can count on many more tournaments, you're involved in every Masters, and you have more time to prepare and train.

“When you have a lower ranking, sometimes you have to play qualifiers and that means you have to play more matches, but moving up the rankings means you can plan better and, without so much pressure, you can score more points in big tournaments with fewer rounds.”

--What do you think you need to be more consistent in the top 50?

-- "I feel like we're on the same path we've been on since the beginning of the year, improving on hard courts because there are so many points distributed on that surface. I need to adjust my game somewhat, and I think that's what I need to work on more than anything. Honestly, I'm not too afraid of facing that; it makes me happy, and I'm confident I can achieve it."

The Los Cabos Open is a hard court event held in a country that already allowed him an ATP Challenger title, in Puerto Vallarta 2021.

“I feel like I'm moving up in my rankings, and I was already one of the top seeds a couple of weeks ago in Mallorca, so I hope that's my new reality in the future. I'm happy to be here, but being seeded is just a number. In the end, all the opponents are tough,” concludes Daniel Altmaier from Los Cabos.

FILE: DANIEL ALTMAIER

• Country: Germany
• Age: 26
• Professional since: 2014
• Coach: Alberto Mancini (Argentina)
• Titles: 7 (all on ATP Challenger Tour)
• Position at Los Cabos 2025: fifth seed
• Debut: Tuesday, July 15 against Mitchell Krueger (United States)