New German hope
This 20-year-old skipped two school classes for her dream
Updated on 11.08.2025 – 6:16 p.m.Reading time: 3 min.
At the tournament in Cincinnati, Ella Seidel attracted attention with her victory against US star Emma Navarro. However, it not only shows extraordinary performances on the tennis court.
With a simple concentrated fist and a light grin on the face, Ella Seidel celebrated her victory against Emma Navarro in the second round of the Cincinnati Open. It almost seemed as if a victory against the world ranking eleventh at a Masters tournament was pure routine for her.
In fact, Seidel’s victory was a fist thick surprise. So far, the 20-year-old German has hardly appeared on the very big tennis stage. But with the victory against top player Navarro, who was still in the semi -finals at the US Open last year, Seidel emphasized her ambitions. She wanted to go high early – and even saw her extraordinary school success as a means to an end.
Seidel was born in Hamburg and started tennis at the Hamburg Club Klipper THC at the age of six. In the beginning she also played hockey there, but then quickly decided on the individual sport of Tennis, “because I was appealing to stand alone on the pitch where there are only winning or losing,” she told the “Hamburger Abendblatt”.
The first successes quickly followed nationally. Seidel became German champion with the juniors twice and then followed a championship title among the women. International appearances also followed, such as participation in all junior competitions of the four Grand Slam tournaments. In doubles, she even reached the final at the US Open with partner Carolina Kuhl.
The first participation in women’s tournaments quickly followed, and in a very short time it penetrated the top 200 in the world rankings. Her greatest success so far: in 2024 she played a strong qualification at the Australian Open and made the leap into the main field. It was her first and only participation in the main field of a Grand Slam tournament at a women’s level. After all, the experience will probably be remembered for longer, because she played her first round against the then defending champion and today’s world ranking aryna Sabalenka. It became a clear 0: 6-/1: 6 defeat.
The victory against Navarro has shown that Seidel has made a big leap forward since then. But the 20-year-old is not enough. She formulated high goals early on for her career. At the age of 15, she told the “Hamburger Abendblatt”: “My dream is to get into the top ten in the world and win a Grand Slam tournament.” The French Open in particular has considered it, “because sand is my favorite covering”.