“It will take a very good performance from Joel”: ÖTV sports director and Davis Cup captain Jürgen Melzer announced this before the final showdown. And that’s exactly what he did: Joel Schwärzler sensationally crowned himself U16 European Champion on Sunday morning in Prerov, in the Czech region of Moravia near Olomouc. The Vorarlberger had won all five matches up to that point without losing a set, just like his opponent in the final, but he didn’t let himself be stopped by the high tournament favorites in the final of the European Youth Championship. The 16-year-old beat the top seeded Spaniard Martin Landaluce, after all, already number nine in the U18 youth world rankings, 6: 4, 6: 4 after only around 1:12 hours of play. Schwärzler is the first Austrian youth European champion since the double success of Michael Frank and Lukas Neumayer in Moscow in 2018 and the first in singles since Lucas Miedler in 2012, also in the Russian capital and in the U16 age group. For the double winner of the ÖTV youth indoor championships U18 and only three weeks ago the title holder of the ITF-J2 tournament in Pilsen, it is clearly the greatest international success in his still young, so promising career. He was accordingly honored with the gold medal and the winner’s trophy.
“Really happy” – and still nervous an hour later
Schwärzler made no secret of the fact that it was “something special” to be in the final of the European Youth Championship. As a clear outsider, he wants to play there “without pressure”. This actually seemed to be a burden on the favorites Landaluce at first, who seemed a little inhibited, but was caught off guard by Schwärzler’s strong start. Harder immediately took the 2-0 lead, including two chances for the double break, which didn’t work out. After losing the serve to make it 2-2 after a 40-0 lead, he reacted perfectly, snagged the break again to make it 3-2 and this time brought the lead through. It was also impressive how Schwärzler started the second set, with no sign of letting up: With a run of 8:0 in points, he again secured a quick 2:0 lead and then didn’t let himself be taken off his bread. Thanks to his far better service this time, he unwound his service games with unbelievable sovereignty. And he apparently didn’t show any nerves when he was served: he closed the sack with a clean sheet and was able to cheer in the direction of Melzer, who looked after him on site during his greatest success to date.
Even an hour after his coup, on the way home to Austria, Schwärzler was “still excited, nervous for some reason. I’m really happy about the victory.” He deserved it with a sensational, extremely powerful and yet extremely error-free performance: “Today I showed by far my best level of play in the tournament. I wasn’t under any pressure, I wasn’t complaining. I knew that although he was the favourite, I had chances. And I played exactly what I had discussed with Jürgen right from the start.” What was the recipe for success against the extremely strong Landaluce, who had already won three ITF J1 and two ITF J2 tournaments this year? “To go more over his forehand on the first serve because he’s really stable on the backhand. Playing with altitude a lot, at different heights, and throwing in trajectories. And always making sure that I control the rallies.” And so Schwärzler was actually ready to be served after just over 70 minutes. What succeeded, but was by no means as easy as it looked: “I was extremely nervous,” admitted the local youngster with a smile. “But fortunately the first serves came. I played a really good last game and there was nothing he could do about it.” It was his first duel against a player in the top ten in the youth world rankings – and it ended with this big win that gave the European Summer Cup brings. There, Schwärzler will strengthen Austria’s U16 selection from July 27 in Liberec, also in his successful Czech Republic. After that he wants to significantly improve his ITF youth ranking from currently 116th place with further good tournament performances.
Melzer proud: “He played his opponent against the wall”
Schwärzler only surprised himself with his triumph in the Czech Republic: “I knew that I could make it to the final as soon as I saw the draw. I had already beaten my opponent in the semifinals when I won the tournament in Pilsen. So I’ve already seen my chance. However, it was probably less clear that I would also win today. But I had a super day.” With which he also completely inspired Melzer: “What I really liked is that he followed the match plan that we discussed before, how to crack Landaluce, from the first to the last point pulled through. We knew that he would definitely be the toughest opponent. If you look at his results this year, you know he’s good. It was important for me that he went into the game and believed that he could win it. After the first game, in which he immediately broke him, I knew immediately: He does.” What followed was “a very, very good performance by Joel. I would have to search a lot for what didn’t quite fit. I’m proud of him that he pulled through and played his opponent against the wall – and that’s exactly what he did. It was an absolutely deserved final victory. His opponent didn’t have a lot that he could defend against today.”
One of the decisive factors: “The difference to the last few days was that he served really well today and didn’t always have to go over the second serve. Joel forced his pace on him and then you noticed that he was sometimes overwhelmed with this pace. The serve was the key to success today, in addition to the good basic strokes that he unpacked again.” Ultimately, even winning the tournament without losing a set, “that’s something to be proud of.” One thing is certain: With Schwärzler, Austria’s youth tennis has another , extremely hot tennis stock. However, converting the successes into men’s tennis is a completely different challenge, which ultimately fails many talented players. At Schwärzler, however, Melzer was quite confident: “With today’s performance: definitely. He has proven that he can keep his nerves in check even in a grand final. What he revealed in previous games in terms of mental weaknesses, with too much grumbling, he simply left out today. I hope he realized for himself how this makes him a different player. A real man was on the pitch today.” But the goal must be “not only to get there against top opponents – but also in daily work and also in other tournaments and against less strong opponents. That will ultimately come down to that.”
Here are all the results of the European Youth Championships.
