Meanwhile, Mavie Austrian achieved an international debut victory at the ITF women’s tournament in Monastir.
Calendar week 47 once again provided some pleasant successes for the ÖTV aces. Above all for Lukas Neumayer, who once again collected a lot of ATP points with the fourth ATP Challenger final of his career in Salzburg 2023, Cordenons (Italy) 2023 and Tulln 2024. On the ITF tour, Mavie Österreicher was even able to enter the list of winners for the first time – while Gregor Ramskogler only stumbled over the last hurdle on the way to the title. Here is the summary of the week.
– ATP 75 Challenger in Montemar (Spain): In his last appearance of the season, Lukas Neumayer once again showed his best side. While Dennis Novak (ATP 348) and David Pichler (ATP 594) were each eliminated in the qualifying final, the 22-year-old marched through to the final with four wins. The Salzburg player (ATP 259) initially celebrated three two-set wins before he was able to say goodbye to the third Spanish local hero, the wildcard player Pol Martin Tiffon (ATP 266), 6:3, 5:7, 6:2 in the semifinals. For the time being, Neumayer will have to wait for his first ATP Challenger title: In the duel with the Italian former world number nine Fabio Fognini (ATP 84), he narrowly lost out 3:6, 6:2, 3:6. Nevertheless, he was able to move up to 225th place in Monday’s world rankings, just 19 positions behind his career high. This could result in a ticket for qualification for the Australian Open 2025. “I still have to wait for my first title, but overall a very positive week for me,” summed up Neumayer on his official social media channels and congratulated Fognini: “It was a pleasure to share the place with you, you are a legend of our sport.”
– ATP-50-Challenger in Puerto Vallarta (Mexiko): In the singles, things didn’t go according to plan for him this time with a defeat in the opening main draw. But in the double competition Neil Oberleitner at least made it to the semi-finals. The Viennese (ATP doubles 231) was able to clear the first two hurdles after two sets alongside Felix Corwin (USA), but was then 3-6 against the top-seeded Canadian pairing of Liam Draxl and Benjamin Sigouin, 5:7 final stop.
– ITF W50 tournament in Boca Raton (USA): Julia Grabher was also able to make a small exclamation mark again. The Vorarlberg woman (WTA 524) gave the 15-year-old Canadian wildcard recipient Selin Vakalapudi (WTA -) the maximum penalty in the state of Florida and then eliminated the top seeded Spaniard Carlota Martínez Círez (WTA 223) 6:2, 6: 2. In the quarterfinals she lost 6:4, 3:6, 2:6 against the Dutch Eva Vedder (WTA 353), against whom she had a 3:1 record up to that point. Nevertheless, the 28-year-old has become the new 490th to return to the top 500 in the world.
– ITF M15/W15 tournament in Monastir (Tunisia): In the men’s category, Niklas Waldner lost in the singles competition as a qualifier in round one as well as in the doubles. In the women’s category, Mavie Austrian was also denied a win in the singles, but her entry in the doubles was crowned with success. In her second final after Oberpullendorf in December 2022, the 22-year-old secured her first international women’s coup. After a smooth opening success, the Viennese (WTA doubles 1579) won the next three matches with the German Josy Daems, all in match tiebreaks. In the title fight, the two beat the French Laia Petretic and Alice Soulie 2:6, 6:3, 10:6.
– ITF M15 tournament in Luanda (Angola): In singles, Gregor Ramskogler (ATP 1071) recorded his third quarter-final in a row, and in doubles he almost won his sixth career title, his fifth of the season. The Upper Austrian (ATP double 550) first walked into the semifinals with the Pole Jasza Szajrych, where the two defeated the third seeds Chirag Duhan (India) and Lorenzo Lorusso (Italy) 6:1, 6:7 (2) and 10: 3 defeated in the match tiebreak. Only against the two top-positioned Germans Robert Strombachs and Kai Wehnelt did the two narrowly lose out 3:6, 7:6 (5), 7:10.
– ITF W15 tournament in Antalya (Türkiye): For the fifth time in a row, Austria’s great young hope Lilli Tagger was able to score points at an international women’s tournament. The East Tyrolean (WTA 965) recorded two victories at the event, which was plagued by bad weather for a long time, before suffering a bitter exit in the quarter-finals on Saturday. The 16-year-old lost to second-seeded Slovenian Pia Lovric (WTA 466) 6:3, 3:6, 6:7 (4) after two missed match points.
– ITF J300 tournament in Zapopan (Mexico): Twice victory and defeat for Thilo Behrmann at the top-class youth event in the city with over a million inhabitants. After a sense of success, the 16-year-old (ITF 71) is over in the singles round of 16 and doubles quarterfinals with the Chinese Fumin Jiang.
– ITF J30 tournament in Paralimni (Cyprus): While the ÖTV aces had some partial successes at smaller ITF events, Leander Tauber’s stood out the most. With a two-set win and twice 7:5 in the third round, the Lower Austrian (ITF 1755) made it to the semi-finals. There the 15-year-old, who was ranked fourth, was eliminated against the top-seeded local hero and eventual tournament winner Konstantinos Megalemos (ITF 852) 6:7 (6), 2:6.
– ITF Futures Series tournament in Prague (Czech Republic): Austria’s wheelchair tennis elite was represented numerous and successfully in the capital of the neighboring country. In the men’s category, Martin Legner and Josef Riegler were eliminated in the quarter-finals and Martin Hörz-Weber was eliminated in the round of 16. But in doubles, the 62-year-old red-white-red legend Legner grabbed his 284th career title with Abu Samah Borhan (Malaysia), the fifth in a row, in the final against Hörz-Weber and the Irish Garreth Greene. In the women’s race, like a week before in Karvina, Christina Pesendorfer was only stopped in the final by the Japanese Chiyo Sasaki. Even in doubles, she and Vanessa Jenewein couldn’t win anything until the title fight against Sasaki and the Australian Sally Schwartz. In the individual consolation, Jenewein prevailed against Lena Lichtenegger in an Austrian final. In the quads, Roman Zechmeister narrowly missed out on winning the tournament with a 3:6, 6:2, 6:7 (6) in the final against the Turkish Serdar Antac.
– Tennis Europe U16 tournament category 3 in Athens (Greece): After triumphing in the Linz doubles in July 2024, Felix Raser has now also won his first European tennis title in singles. The ninth-placed Styrian only lost a total of eight games in his first three matches after a bye. In the semifinals he was also able to eliminate the top seeded Ukrainian Ivan Ushakov 6:4, 7:6 (5). It was only in the final that Raser had to accept a loss in the first set, but he also had the staying power against the Greek local hero Apostolos Toumpaniaris with 3:6, 7:5, 6:1. In doubles with Leander Rautmann (Germany) he didn’t make it past the quarterfinals.
