The ATP 100 Challenger in Mauthausen goes into the final weekend without the Red-White-Red participating.
In front of a sell-out crowd on Friday, Gerald Melzer, Joel Schwarzler and Filip Mizolik narrowly missed out on advancing to the semi-finals of the Danube Upper Austria Open hosted by SKE in Mauthausen (May 5 to 12). Despite Melzer (ATP 497) losing the first set 6:7 (6), 3:6 against sixth-ranked Slovakian Josef Kovalik (ATP 160), Bulgarian local hero Schwärzler (ATP 743) Dimitar Kuzmanov (ATP 260) on the day 2 :6 was very large at 3:6. Then, in the quarter-finals, Mizolic (ATP 201) conceded a 5:7, 4:6 defeat to top-seeded Argentine Francisco Comezen (ATP 91).
Meltzer lost in a crazy game
There is nothing that is not in tennis. The quarter final match between Melzer and Kovalik was the best proof of this. The Slovakian was already up 4:0 in the first set and 40:15 on his own serve. Melzer had no task early on before the 33-year-old went on a rampage, moving to 5:2 with a 1:2 minibreak in the tiebreak to win a set point – but the edge of the net prevented a happy ending. After a bitter double fault, Kovalik won the first round. Melzer quickly recovered from the setback and took a quick 2-0 lead with a break in the second set. But then the thread was broken, with Kowalik scoring a match-clinching home try to book his place in the semi-finals.
“I started well, had a good run. Then Gerald played well and played aggressively. I didn’t know what to do anymore. I was already against the wall in the tiebreak of the first set, but I won important points. That was the difference today. It was a great match. “I’m very happy that I survived this round,” Kovalik said during the winner’s interview on Center Court. Melzer added: “It was the hardest match I expected. He didn’t give me anything in the beginning and I was quickly 0:4 behind. I felt good, so I was surprised. I didn’t have a chance, I was happy when I wrote on the scoreboard. Then I was in the game, the curve was straight up. pointed and I was close to winning the first set. It was a real bummer, but then I completely lost track, and I would have stayed on the court longer,” Lower said said the Austrian.
Schwärzler “Big disappointment”
Almost 600 spectators had their fingers crossed for local hero Schwarzler, who plays on Center Court for host club Union Stein & Co Mauthausen in the Win2Day Bundesliga and hopes to continue to top the ITF Youth World Rankings. But Guzmanov, who knocked out two-time national champion Lucas Neumeier on Thursday, pursued other plans and made himself look solid again. In the end, the Bulgarian cleared things up and now faces Melzer’s winner, Kovalik, in the semi-finals. “It’s an exciting match. The result is very clear, but it’s not that easy. I feel more comfortable this time and can execute my game plan better. The match is good for me and the setting here is just perfect. My next opponent (Kovalik; reference) I have known him for many years. This year we already played a four-hour tournament. I am looking forward to it,” said the 30-year-old.
After two wins, including a tennis festival on Ascension Day, Schwarzler was unable to match his performance from the previous day in his second ATP Challenger Tour quarterfinal match against Guzmano. “I was very disappointed because I expected more. Dimitar played his game from start to finish. He had a lot of routes in his shots, which I couldn’t deal with today and I made a lot of mistakes. He did well because I couldn’t put any pressure on him. I “I tried everything but it didn’t work today. But I survived two rounds and played a really good game yesterday, so I’m satisfied even if the result is not favorable,” revealed the Worerlberg player. A training block will be added next week before heading to the next ATP Challenger in Skopje.
Misolic: “I left everything I had on the pitch”
In addition to a well-stocked audience, Friday at Mauthausen offered absolutely fantastic weather and perfect conditions. Everything was arranged on Austrian Day. But Missouli also missed out on a spot in the semifinals, where local hopes rested after Schwarzler and Meltzer’s losses. Styrian gave tournament number one Komasana a gutsy fight – but without a happy ending. Mizolic, who had been amazing in the first two games, played well this time around and made quick progress with the break. However, Gomasana again brought out his best side and delivered in full. In decisive situations, the South American remained calm and pulled off some magical strikes. In the end, the 23-year-old celebrated a 7:5, 6:4 victory to take an important step towards his sixth ATP Challenger Tour title.
“It was a great match. I played well and fought my way through. I was nervous at the end and would get him (mesolic; note) Almost out of the game. Not so, I’m so glad I won. This background is fun to play with. It’s a great privilege to be up against Lucas now (Pouille; note) Let’s play. I will enjoy it and give it my all again,” said he, looking forward to the fight with the former world 10 and current number 229 from France (6: 2, 6:3 winner against the German qualifier Max. Hans Rehberg, ATP 479) was happy. “It was intense and very tight,” Mizolik said. “I had a lot of chances but unfortunately I couldn’t take advantage of many today. It certainly could have turned out differently. I left everything on the pitch. Unfortunately, it was not enough today even though the entire competition was evenly matched. My serve is letting me down a bit at the moment and I’m not getting any easy points. “I will continue to work on it now,” he summarizes.
Schwarzler/Oberleitner were placed in doubles
For Schwarzler and Neil Oberleitner, it was the end of the day in a doubles semi-final against Konstantin Franzen and Hendrik Jebens. Although the duo defeated Austria’s top doubles team and tournament number one Alexander Erler and Lukas Midler in the first round, the duo lost 4:6, 3:6 against the second-seeded Germans on Friday afternoon.
“It was really good for a doubles match today. The atmosphere was great, and then a semi-final at home – you don’t get that every day. Unfortunately, we made mistakes in difficult situations. You don’t get many chances against these two. We gave away what we had. Bitter, we’re better. In the end they deserve to win,” added Oberleitner. “I really enjoy playing with him and I think the good thing about tennis is that we’ll try again next week.
Table tennis double European champion visits
There was also a big audience on the quarter-final day: right after returning from the WTT Grand Smash in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), reigning table tennis double European champion Sofia Bolganova didn’t miss an opportunity to keep her fingers crossed. ÖTV aces in Mauthausen. At the same time, Austria’s number one player in table tennis, together with OÖTTV president Hans Friedinger, promoted the home European championship to the fans of the yellow field ball from October 15 to 20 at the TipsArena in Linz.
The Danube Upper Austria Open is streamed by SKE im Livestream
On Saturday, May 11, the Danube Upper Austria Open powered by SKE will once again have a comprehensive live streaming offer on ÖTV TV. www.oetv.tv. In the doubles final at 11:30 a.m., two Americans, Ryan Segerman and Patrick Track, will battle Franzen/Jeffens for the title. From 2:00 p.m., Komesana will face Pouille and Kuzmanov will face Kovalik. Both semi-final matches will be broadcast on ORF SPORT+.
