PARIS - Yannick Hanfmann’s dreams of becoming a professional footballer where shattered when problems with his hearing meant communication with teammates and coaches became impossible.

However, the 31-year-old found salvation in tennis and Hanfmann has reached the French Open second round for the first time.

Hanfmann wears a hearing aid off the courts but plays without it.

“That would have been too much today - system overload,” said Hanfmann, after securing a five-set triumph over Brazilian Thiago Monteiro in a tie which lasted the best part of five hours.

A junior football player who played for his local club Karlsruhe, he gave up the game due to hearing issues experienced since birth.

“At some point, I stopped hearing my teammates shouting and the coaches’ commands. It is completely different in tennis, where I see my opponents. That simplifies the whole thing,” Hanfmann told SID news agency, a subsidiary of AFP.

Hanfmann, ranked at 65 in the world, lost in the qualifying rounds at the French Open last week but a spot as a lucky loser opened up when Benjamin Bonzi of France withdrew with injury.

“I think I’m riding a little bit of a wave,” said Hanfmann. “I hope I can ride it as far as I can.”

The German also made it to the second round of the Australian Open in 2022 where he was beaten by Rafael Nadal and this year went from qualifying to the quarter-finals of the Italian Open where his run was halted by Daniil Medvedev.

Next up for Hanfmann in Paris is Argentinian 23rd seed Francisco Cerundolo on Thursday.

“This is a day I’ll never forget,” Hanfmann said after defeating Monteiro. “I’ve done something pretty cool.” AFP