LINZ AG Team OÖ defends the men’s title in Mauthausen like ATV RE team future IRDNING.
After fending off four match points in the all-important final doubles match against Union Stein&Co Mauthausen, ATV RE team future IRDNING secured the men’s bowl in the top division of the Austrian team championship last year. This year, at the Final Four in the IMMOunited Bundesliga presented by win2day, which was held for the first time in Mauthausen, a very similar women’s final thriller took place. In the end, however, the winning teams in 2023 remained the same as in 2022: In the ladies, LINZ AG Team OÖ triumphed in an all-Upper Austrian final with a 4:3 over UTC Fischer Ried for the fourth time in a row after 2020, 2021 and 2022 – after a match point was destroyed in the One double. In the men’s category, Irdning fully lived up to its clear role as favorite in the final against TC Harland thanks to a 6-0 win and won the crown for the fifth time after 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022, and for the third time in a row .
On the ÖTV side, along with sports director and Davis Cup captain Jürgen Melzer (in an active role, as an Irdninger doubles player) and Stefan Hirn (Bundesliga administrator and player representative), business manager Thomas Schweda was on site at the Final Four and took part in it joint forces, including OÖTV President Hans Sommer, presented the award ceremony. “Many thanks to the main sponsor IMMOunited and presenting sponsor win2day for this successful Bundesliga season, which has now concluded with the Final Four in Mauthausen,” said Schweda. “And many thanks also to Andreas Pilsl and his team at Union Stein&Co Mauthausen for organizing the extremely successful final event.” This offered, with a few exceptions such as Dominic Thiem (not named by any Bundesliga team), Sebastian Ofner (spared for the Davis Cup against Portugal) and Julia Grabher (injured), a real showcase of the very best Austrians, garnished with strong international players – and therefore tennis of the absolute highest class.
The little miracle of Mauthausen
In the women’s category, LINZ AG Team OÖ kept its chance of winning the title with a 4:3 win over the Grazer Park Club in the semifinals on Friday. While UTC Fischer Ried was even able to reach the final for the second time after 2021 with a 4-1 win over TC Bakl Weigelsdorf without top player Sinja Kraus. There, the revenge against the Linz women initially seemed to be successful: Because Kraus had the upper hand in the top singles against the Slovenian Nika Radisic, just as, somewhat surprisingly, Arabella Koller benefited from the 17-year-old future hope Tamara Kostic and Livia Kraus benefited from Johanna Hiesmair’s task, Ried decided won three of the first four individual games – only Nadja Ramskoger lost to the Czech Petra Krejsova. With a 3-1 lead, the German Anna Klasen won the first set 7-5 in the pairs singles against Melanie Klaffner. Everything was prepared for the Innviertel women’s first coup. But things turned out differently.
With a score of 6:1 and 10:5 in the match tiebreak, Klaffner initially postponed the decision to the double matches. There, thanks to a 3:6, 6:3, 12:10 from Radisic/Klaffner against Klasen/Koller and a 7:5, 7:5 from Krejsova/Kostic over Ramskoger and Livia Kraus, Linz actually turned the tables very thinly, but still around. “I would really call that a miracle,” said Austria’s ex-Fed Cup captain Jürgen Waber, who stood in as team captain for the state capital team for Janina Toljan, who was working on her bar exam. “I was totally surprised that we even made it to the final because we had so many absences due to injuries or tournament participation that we only brought together five players. “Especially since Sinja Kraus was able to play in the final at Ried, for me we were underdogs there,” said Waber. “It was a surprise for me, and that’s why I’m particularly pleased. Luckily, ‘Meli’ managed to turn her singles match around.” In the doubles, it was “very close. In the doubles game we were behind with a break in both sets. In the singles doubles, Klasen/Koller had match point at 9:8, but Nika and ‘Meli’ fended it off confidently. “It was just meant to be,” smiled Waber.
Ried captain Florian Reiter and his team, however, were brutally torn from their already understandable title dreams: “We knew that if we won one of Sinja and Arabella’s games, then we would most likely be in the doubles, and anything could happen . After we won both games, Hiesmair unfortunately got injured relatively quickly at Linz and Anna was one set ahead against Klaffner, of course we start to speculate. But hats off to Melanie! In the situation you have to play it through first – even though Anna made it too easy for her at times.” In the doubles, Ried had to do without Sinja Kraus, who, as agreed, only played in the singles and then traveled on to the WTA Challenger in Ljubljana. “So we already knew that it would be difficult in doubles. Unfortunately, the ball was five centimeters out on our match point. That’s just how it is. “It was a decision like a coin toss,” said Reiter. Curiously, within ten seconds both doubles ended almost at the same time, both to Ried’s disadvantage. “But things could have turned out completely differently on Friday and I’m still very proud of the girls. It’s just a shame for them because they deserved to win. We still didn’t lose the final, but won second place and are happy with that.”
Irdning’s men were only required in the anticipated final
For the men, ATV RE team future IRDNING had to master what was clearly the toughest test in the semi-finals on Saturday. The Styrians narrowly won the new edition of the last two finals in 2021 and 2022 against hosts Union Stein&Co Mauthausen 5:4. “It was relatively difficult yesterday, but we knew that in advance,” said Irdning’s team captain Erich Reisinger. In the meantime they were already 1:4 behind, “but when Gerald Melzer won in fifth place after being down a set, I was pretty sure that we would still get it.” Because the local Davis Cup players Filip Misolic and Lucas Miedler as well The German Mats Moraing was the clear favorite in each of their individual events. That’s what happened in the final, which for Reisinger was “probably anticipated.” That’s what it’s like when the finalists of the last few years face each other.” In the final against TC Harland, success was “never in danger, it went ideally.” Irdning won the first three men’s doubles matches and was quickly 3rd: 0 in front and didn’t let anything go wrong in the individual games, only Dennis Novak had to go into the match tiebreak against the Slovakian Jozef Kovalik. “It was a very good performance from him – but the bottom line is that the whole team is important, the whole team counts, the whole team sticks together. We have such an incredibly good camaraderie. If someone misses out, the others are there for them,” said Reisinger, who also saw this as the secret of his team’s success. Who now has a clear goal in mind for 2024: to tackle the quat trick like the Linz women.
Harland was able to eliminate TC Raiffeisen Schwaz 6-3 in the duel between the semi-final debutants on Saturday. But the Lower Austrians then had to enviously acknowledge Irdning’s superiority: “They were simply too good and too strong in terms of play,” admitted Captain Dietmar Sedlecky, whose team lost all three doubles games. “We thought about the line-up for a while, but in the end we had three matches, all of which were difficult given the starting position. Maybe there would have been something in the triple doubles if we had lined up stronger here because Jürgen Melzer and Peter Gojowcyk didn’t play so outstandingly there.” In the singles there was little for ex-ATP professional and ÖTV coach Lukas Jastraunig against Gerald Melzer fetch. More for Sedlecky’s son Markus, who won all the singles in the regular round, but lost 5:7, 2:6 against Gojowczyk. “He could have won the first set. In the second set, a long, approximately 20-minute game brought a break to 1:2, after which his resistance was broken,” said father Sedlecky. Only Kovalik won a set: “Even though he clearly defeated Novak last time, Jozef held up very well. He fought his way in, played a very good match and was even ahead 8:7 in the match tiebreak on his own service. Then he became a bit too passive. It was noticeable that he currently lacks self-confidence.”
The further individual matches were no longer played because of the decision that had already been made. Harland certainly got the most out of taking part in the finals this season: “It’s a huge success for us, we’re extremely happy with second place,” said Sedletzky, more pleased about what he’d achieved before. “Despite losing the final, it was a nice weekend and nice to have been there at the Final Four. We enjoyed it, and so did the players. We had a lot of fans with us, the most of any club. There were around 35 people, with banners and everything, who created a great atmosphere for us.” And so played their part in reaching the final.
The schedule for the Final Four of the IMMOunited Bundesliga presented by win2day
September 8, 2023, 11:00 a.m.: Women’s semifinals
LINZ AG Team Upper Austria – Grazer Park Club 4:3
UTC Fischer Ried – TC Bakl Weigelsdorf 4:1
More information here: https://www.oetv.at/liga/adults/235361
September 9, 2023, 11:00 a.m.: Men’s semifinals
ATV RE team future IRDNING – Union Stein&Co Mauthausen 5:4
TC Harland – TC Raiffeisen Schwaz 6:3
More information here: https://www.oetv.at/liga/adults/235363
September 10, 2023, 11:00 a.m
Women’s final: LINZ AG Team Upper Austria – UTC Fischer Ried 4:3
Men’s final: ATV RE team future Irdning – TC Harland 6:0
2023-09-10 19:37:51
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