One of Germany’s most well-known tennis coaches has been accused of serious misconduct against players who he guided on the Tour during his career.
A joint investigation conducted by NDR, Sportschau and SZ has spoken to two different individuals who claim that they were mistreated by Dirk Hordorff. Hordorff is an established figure in the world of tennis who is best known for working with former world No.5 Rainer Schuettler for 20 years. He has also previously coached Janko Tipsarevic, Danai Udomchoke, Kristian Pless, Jens Knippschild, Sergiy Stakhovsky and Vasek Pospisil. He is currently the mentor of former junior world No.1 Ricardas Berankis.
One of the players who has publicly accused Hordorff of abuse is former player Maximilian Abel who reached the world’s top 200 before being suspended from the sport following a failed drugs test. He was a promising junior player who reached a ranking high of No.6 in the world.
“In the beginning, he touched his back and stomach, and then he worked his way down to his buttocks,” said Abel. “It was very uncomfortable and I thought, what the heck is he doing there?”
Abel also said one time he went to Hordorff’s apartment where he was requested to do naked press-ups. In another incident, the German said as a punishment he was asked by Hordorff to undress and go onto a bed naked in ‘a dog position.’ Hordorff would then strike Abel’s buttocks with his belt.
“I was shocked, felt like shit,” said Abel who alleges that his former trainer was aroused at the same time as hitting him with his belt.
According to Abel, he was emotionally blackmailed by Hordorff who pledged to train him for free until he reached the top 100.
These allegations were first flagged up with the German Tennis Federation (DTB) in 2022 when its president, Dietloff von Arnim, received a letter from Abel detailing the allegations. An investigation subsequently concluded that “the allegation of misconduct cannot be proven with certainty.”
Albe’s credibility has been questioned by some due to his criminal history. He is currently in prison for credit card fraud. According to Sportschau, he is described by some as a ‘notorious liar.’
However, another player who is still active on the Tour has also made accusations against Hordorff. World No.89 doubles player Sriram Balaji spent three months at the Hessian State Association tennis facility in 2010 where at the time Hordorff was president.
Balaji, who was 20 at the time, said Hordorff came into his room once a week. He was asked to undress to his underwear and then completely. Balaji said he also stayed one night at Hordorff’s apartment where he was supposed to sleep naked on his sofa. Meanwhile, on the court, he felt that he was being ‘humiliated’ in front of others.
“He touched me all over my body, just not on my genitals,” said Balaji
“I had the feeling he wanted to treat me like his slave.”
Hordorff is yet to personally comment on the allegations against him but a law firm acting on his behalf has said that they are ‘simply untrue.’ Besides coaching Berankis, he is also the Vice President of the German Tennis Federation for High-Performance Sport. However, his role within the DTB has been put on hold until further notice.
