2024-10-21 19:54:00
Austria’s tennis future hope Joel Schwärzler had no chance in his debut appearance in the main competition of the Erste Bank Open. The 18-year-old from Vorarlberg had to admit defeat to the top-seeded German Alexander Zverev 2:6,2:6 after just over an hour on Monday. This means that only Dominic Thiem is holding Austria’s flag high in the singles; in what will probably be his last game of his career, he will face the Italian Luciano Darderi on Tuesday (not before 6 p.m.).
“The result was clear, I didn’t play the way I wanted, I’m disappointed. Nevertheless, I can take a lot from the game,” summed up Schwärzler. During the training days on site he played at a really good level. “Unfortunately I couldn’t put it into practice in the match. It’s not the easiest thing to play against the number three in the world in front of so many people. But that shouldn’t be an excuse.”
Schwärzler enjoyed the loud reception at the very well-attended Center Court in the Wiener Stadthalle and showed no signs of being nervous in the early stages. After losing the first point, he won his serve thanks to good service and a powerful forehand. After Zverev’s equalizer, with a 40-0 lead, everything seemed to be in place for the ÖTV player to present again. However, careless mistakes wiped out the lead and the German used his first break point to make it 2-1.
“It’s bitter that I don’t play the game, maybe the first set would have been a little different if I had applied the pressure for longer,” said Schwärzler. But he remained realistic. “I still wouldn’t have won the match, the change would have come at some point, he’s just number three in the world.” In any case, Schwärzler’s thread was broken after the third game at the latest, and he didn’t score a point in the three following games.
He managed a small cosmetic result to make it 2:5, before Zverev again scored nil after just over half an hour. In the second set, the big favorite got a break chance with the score at 1:1 and didn’t miss it. To make it 4:1, he took his opponent’s serve again and increased it to 5:1. After that, the world number 347 was already on the verge of elimination, but was able to stay in the match for a short time by defending three match points. The third in the world rankings took advantage of opportunity number four with his own service.
“I know that I can more than keep up with the speed, now all I have to do is get the ball into the field and do it more than just three times,” said Schwärzler. There were encouraging words from the winner at the net. He described the ÖTV actor as a “super talent” in the winner’s interview on the pitch. “I told him that he is much closer than he might believe after the match. He will have a great career and will still be here on the pitch for the next 15 years,” said Zverev. He himself is targeting his second triumph at the $2.626 million event; he won the title in 2021.
For now, the 22-time ATP tournament winner, who had no signs of the after-effects of pneumonia one day after his exhibition against Thiem, has to master the round of 16 against the American Alex Michelsen or his compatriot Marcos Giron. The Australian Alexei Popyrin cannot be an opponent in the further course of the tournament. The tournament’s number eight surprisingly failed 6:7(3), 2:6 against Czech qualifier Jakub Mensik.
Like him, two Italians made it to the round of 16. Matteo Berrettini showed no weakness in beating Hungarian qualifier Marton Fucsovics 7:5,6:4, while Flavio Cobolli defeated Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7:6(1). ,6:3.
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