“A bitter day for us. The cancellations are extremely painful.” Yesterday Alexander Antonitsch went through a wave of emotions as tournament director of the Generali Open in Kitzbühel. First, two other Austrians, Gerald Melzer and Sebastian Ofner, joined the reinvigorated Dominic Thiem, Jurij Rodionov and Filip Misolic in the main competition of the clay court tennis classic starting today. But then, a little later, the bad news trickled in. Norway’s Casper Ruud and Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, the tournament’s number one and two, withdrew due to medical reasons.
In Gstaad yesterday you didn’t notice anything. French Open finalist Ruud defeated da Berrettini in the final following 2:33 hours 4: 6, 7: 6 (4), 6: 2 and defended his title from the previous year. “He had to take too many painkillers this week. Without a break, the shoulder problems would get worse,” Ruud’s father Casper told the Kitzbühel organizers. After that, Berrettini canceled his trip to Tyrol because of signs of fatigue.
The Italian, who recently recovered from Corona, ended Thiem’s run in the semifinals on Saturday with a 6: 1, 6: 4. An important experience for the Lower Austrian. “It was a very, very positive week. It was the first time I played once morest an opponent with an aggressive style of play, where it’s difficult to return the first serve, where I’m constantly under pressure. I found it very difficult. But I shouldn’t let this defeat bring me out,” said Thiem. Especially now that the home tournament is coming up.
Now “Lucky Looser” as opponent
The two important cancellations initially had an impact on the tournament grid, in which the Spaniard Albert Ramos Vinolas is now the top seed. Thiem meets “Lucky Loser” Alexander Shevchenko on Tuesday (7.30 p.m., live on ServusTV). Before that, the French veteran Richard Gasquet had actually been drawn, who can now make do with Ofner instead.
The 21-year-old Russian Shevchenko is currently in 160th place in the ranking. Thiem doesn’t care regarding the opponent at the moment anyway. “I know I can perform well for the home crowd. I’m getting closer to my top level and hopefully I can take another step at home.” This would also be important for the tournament itself. “Dominic is clearly our driving force. Most of the fans come because of him. We hope he gets very far this week,” says Antonitsch.
Two Austrians already today
Rodionov and Misolic open the Austrian round today. The 20-year-old Misolic, this year’s winner of the Challenger in Zagreb, meets Daniel Dutra da Silva (Bra) in the second match following 11 a.m. Afterwards Rodionov, the winner of the Challenger in Mauthausen in May, will play once morest qualifier Hernan Casanova (Arg) to get through.
Strong offspring
Austria’s tennis offspring is also currently showing. Joel Schwärzler won gold in the U16 category yesterday at the European Junior Championships in Prerov (Tch). The Vorarlberger coached by ÖTV sports director Jürgen Melzer gave the top seeded Spaniard Martin Landaluce no chance at 6: 4, 6: 4.
New in Kitzbühel this year is a U14 competition. In this, six international youngsters compete for 20,000 euros in prize money. Also taking part is Maximilian Heidlmair from Askö TC Wels.
