“UTC La Ville Tournament Records 350 Entries for Generali Race to Kitzbühel Qualification”

The UTC La Ville tournament double pack alone was able to record almost 350 entries as part of this year’s Generali Race to Kitzbühel qualification. An extraordinary result given the current team championship in Austria.

145 amateur athletes from 16 nations chasing points in Vienna

145 men and women from 16 different nations, including such classic tennis countries as Germany, England, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Australia, or exotic tennis destinations such as Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Afghanistan or the Philippines enjoyed the brilliant conditions for a great tennis Spectacle at Altmannsdorfer Ast in the south of Vienna. The Generali Race starters (inside) of the third station of the Kitzbühel qualifiers in the eastern region indulged in their favorite hobby on excellently prepared tennis courts, which, despite the unpredictable weather of the past few days and weeks with unusually large amounts of rain, “board life” for extraordinary great joy in playing. In addition, for the fourth Generali Race to Kitzbühel season tournament, early summer with plenty of sun and temperatures above 25 degrees moved to the federal capital, and with it, as mentioned, 145 motivated amateur tennis players from seven different federal states.

© Claus Lippert

Stejpan Glavas from main sponsor Generali presents crystal

Only once in the five tennis days, which were extensive in terms of organization and quite intense for the players, did the players tremble a little. When, on the final day, an announced thunderstorm front reached the south of Vienna and thus the Union Tennis Center La Ville just in time for the start of the game, the top event on Lance Lumsden Platz on the home stretch was threatened with an inglorious end with postponements or even cancellation. But seldom at hobby tennis tournaments in the UTC La Ville is it eaten like it is cooked. Playing the first set in the rain on excellent pitches, everyone involved was lucky in the end. The rain cleared, that ends well, all well! And at the latest when Stjepan Glavas from main sponsor Generali congratulated the winners on center court and presented the coveted crystal trophies to beaming faces, the third qualifying tournament in the eastern region for the Generali Race to Kitzbühel 2023 was dry and came to a successful conclusion.

© Claus Lippert

Fabian Röhsner and Felix Maierhofer tie a double for the title

In terms of sport, the event at UTC La Ville had three “double packers” to offer, who, with their second La Ville success within five weeks, are probably already thinking about their summer travel plans and, as of today, can also start looking for a hotel for the beginning of August in the chamois city. The first of this trio, spoiled by success, goes by the name of Felix Maierhofer, is 20 years old and is involved with the Altmannsdorfer TC. The young Viennese had to go the full distance in all his matches of the ITN 4.0 competition and one nerve-wracking match tiebreak each after his 6:2, 4:6, 10:2 final victory over Simon Taborsky and now two Nothing stands in the way of his trip to Kitzbühel in the summer. Slowly but surely, Fabian Röhsner from Mauerbacher TC can also deal with the final tie-break shootout in the Tyrolean mountains for the stately sum of 10,000 euros.

The likeable and introverted 24-year-old had the necessary luck on his side on the way to his La Ville double, especially in the early stages. It actually starts with the drawing of lots, because Röhsner must have overslept the entry deadline and politely asked eight minutes after the official sign-in deadline if he could take part. At the start, the number 2 of the ITN 5-man tournament had to face the strong youngster Nino Svoboda in the tingling match tiebreaker before his triumphal march towards the title inexorably picked up speed. In the final against CTP Pötzleinsdorf young star Frederik Scheer, Röhsner evened out a 2:5 false start in front of his fan club and raced towards victory in the tournament with 11 games won in a row. With the 7:5, 6:0 success in the final, Röhsner has been unbeaten for nine matches at the Generali Race to Kitzbühel level.

© Claus Lippert

Tobias Roth becomes the big winner of the weekend

The third double packer of the weekend is Stefan Timofeev, who won the ITN 8.0 competition in an impressive manner, and after 10 victories en suite and 20 points in the race, the 10,000 euro shootout spectacle in tiebreak mode was almost fixed will tackle in Kitzbühel. “Stef” only had to tremble in the semifinals against the top seeded debutant Rene Pöllmann. In the final and the eagerly awaited new edition of the semi-final hit from the first La Ville qualifier five weeks ago, Timofeev remained sovereign against ITN 8 race leader Remo Wagner and was clearly successful with 6:2, 6:2. In the ITNs of 3, Marlon Warmuth secured a second weekend title in Altmannsdorf with a 6:1, 6:2 victory over Carinthian Lukas Planteu and the fourth tournament victory for the people of the federal capital at home. With 6 competitions, two titles must have gone to the federal states, and they are! Christoph Riepl from USV Pattigham Pramet kidnapped Kristall to Upper Austria in the 6-man competition and celebrated his very first career title with a 3:6, 6:3, 10:5 final victory over Manuel Prem. The really big winner of the weekend comes from Lower Austria and is called Tobias Roth. On the way to the title in the ITN 7.0 competition, the 13-year-old only gave up 15 games in five matches and, on top of that, ripped off the competition in the show event “Tiebreakshootout with handicap system” in the fight for a year’s worth of tennis balls

© Claus Lippert

The upcoming Pentecost weekend will continue in Linz-Auhof

By the way: For all hobby tennis players who have now got a taste for it, or who have not yet been able to achieve the desired and hoped-for success for a Kitzbühel qualification, here is a reference to the next tournaments: In the East In the southern part of the region, the “finals” are already under way in June in the southern part of the city and in Baden, while the second stop in the central region in the Generali Race to Kitzbühel 2023 is already on the program for the coming long Pentecost weekend in Linz-Auhof. Registrations for the Upper Austrian state capital are still possible until Thursday.