Tim Puetz' Olympic adventure is underway. The 2009 and 2010 NCAA All-American is Auburn's first tennis Olympian, pairing with Kevin Krawietz in doubles for Team Germany.
Tennis competition gets underway Saturday morning at Ariake Tennis Park. "We are supposed to start at 11 a.m. but it's too hot here, apparently," Puetz explained Wednesday. "The organizers had an emergency meeting today because the heat index is more than what we are allowed for an ATP tournament and they are still debating if they need to move the start back a bit. It's very warm and very humid."
The last month has been a whirlwind for Puetz and other Olympic competitors in tennis. One of five SEC men's tennis alums in this Olympic field, Puetz secured his bid in June.
"Maybe four weeks ago we got the final definite confirmation – the week before Wimbledon - that Kevin and I are in together. After the French Open, (the German Federation) decided Kevin and I would be a combination and they would put two singles guys together for another combination, so we somewhat knew then. I'm pretty happy and pretty lucky, too."
Coming off an ATP doubles championship last weekend at the Hamburg European Open paired with Michael Venus of New Zealand, Puetz, from Usingen, Germany, and the rest of the German tennis delegation arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday.
"We landed at noon and got out of the airport about 4 ½ hours later and went to the Olympic Village. We went for a hit yesterday and I'm trying to stay up as late as possible to get adjusted to the time," Puetz, currently with a No. 33 doubles ranking, said.
"Besides the fact that you have to wear a mask, it's fairly normal in the Village itself. There aren't really any restrictions; we really can do whatever we want and go wherever we want within the Village.
"It's a massive complex of big buildings and so many athletes everywhere, but we don't really do anything but go eat and then hang out at the apartment. We actually have an apartment and sharing rooms – I feel like I'm back in college. The six guys (in the German tennis delegation) are all in the apartment together."
Puetz says the team atmosphere reminds him of his days on the Plains. "(The team environment) is a whole different feel. Look at us here – we're all hanging out together and having great fun together. But at a normal tournament, the same six guys, in a way we're almost like co-workers – it's a bit different. I like the team format a lot and I think it always brought out the best in me."
The NCAA singles (2010) and doubles (2009) semifinalist says college tennis gave him excellent preparation for what has been a decade in professional competition. "You can talk about playing on a team, me having good coaches at Auburn, me playing a lot of matches, and I think that makes a massive difference, and obviously good matches in the SEC against the top competition, getting used to playing with spectators, umpires and all of that.
"Coming out of college, I felt I had a big advantage over other guys that I would play against in tournaments. Everything you experience in college – the amount of practice, the amount of physical training, the amount of competition – prepared me as well as it could have."
Puetz predicts the stress level will be somewhat different than at a Grand Slam or ATP tournament.
"If you want to compete at a certain level, stress is just part of it, but I don't feel (nervous) here," he said. "I might feel differently after the first round but so far it's just such a nice atmosphere. When you go play in a Grand Slam, you just play for yourself, or doubles, you play for yourself and your partner. But here, you're here as a team and it matters as well how the other guys do. I feel so comfortable here with the other players and coaches. We have a men's coach, a women's coach, a physio and an administrator and that's all there is – we meet as a group and play games together every night. It's more of a relaxed atmosphere than it is in a Slam, where everybody is just doing their own thing."
A message to #Tokyo2021 Olympian @GoldenSetTim from NCAA doubles finalist @FMurgett #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/joREYYspId
— Auburn Men's Tennis (@AuburnMTennis) July 21, 2021
Puetz, who has won three tournament titles this season, "was just a normal Olympics fan – track and field, the 100 meters, those were the guys that I remember. When I was little, probably the first I remember was Michael Johnson; 96 Atlanta was the first one I really watched. 92 was Barcelona and I don't remember watching but I remember that was the Dream Team in basketball."
One memory Puetz and Krawietz want to be sure to capture in 2021 is attending Friday's Opening Ceremony.
"I'll definitely go to the Opening Ceremony;; I spoke about it with Kevin," Puetz said. "It's the same problem with tennis every Olympics – the opening ceremony is Friday night and then we have to potentially play Saturday morning, but we said this might be our only time in the Olympics.
"Plus the Opening is the only Olympic activity we can really do here besides play tennis, because we're not allowed to go watch any other sport. We're not allowed out of the Village; we're locked in, not in a bad way, but we can't go anyplace. So we're definitely going to go to the Opening and just hope we don't have to play Saturday at 11."