And ÖTV aces also reach the finals in all four U14 competitions of the Tennis Europe tournament.
At just 15 years old, he is already number 729 in the U18 world rankings and has long been the European leader in the U16 age group. Gabriel Niedermayr proved this once again last week. The young Upper Austrian was able to not only win his fourth international U16 singles title of the season at the Category 3 Tennis Europe home tournament in Bad Waltersdorf (October 5th to 12th), but also a double for the first time this year. The 15-year-old impressively lived up to his role as favorite as number one on the seeding list: in his five matches, Niedermayr only gave up a total of 13 games and only in the 6:0, 6:3 final against the Hungarian Balint Saghy in the second Playing more than two games in one set. Saghy had previously narrowly stopped Moritz Freitag 7:5, 6:4, the son of organizer Sascha Freitag, at just 13 years old, had at least made it to the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Niedermayr also dominated the doubles competition with compatriot and Tennis Academy Burgenland stablemate Marco Hofer: The two remained without losing a set in their four appearances and prevailed in the title fight against the number one pair Radek Lassan (Czech Republic) and Petr Minakhin ( Russia) with 7:6 (4), 7:5. Friday also reached the semi-finals with Luka Kostic (Serbia), where only Hofer/Niedermayr became a stumbling block.
Pock, El Filali / Strauss, Ehrenberger and Corciova show off
The local offspring presented themselves strongly at the Bad Waltersdorf Junior Trophy, but also in the younger age group. In all four U14 competitions, an ÖTV youngster made it to the final in the Sportaktivpark Bad Waltersdorf. However, things went almost like magic there: not a single title was won. The Styrian local hero Sebastian Pock had eliminated the top-seeded German Lorenzo Rauner 3:6, 6:2, 6:3 in the semifinals, but was no longer able to compete for the title against his second-ranked compatriot Yannick Julius Swoboda. In the doubles, the second-seeded Belgians Lionel Hermans and Alexander van San only took out red-white-red pairings on their way to success – in the final with 6:3, 6:1 to the chagrin of Jannik Rochus El Filali and Philipp Strauss, who had previously been the had defeated the top seeds. In the girls U14 category, Julia Ehrenberger stormed into the final with victories over the numbers four and five on the seed list, where the top seed from Slovenia, Brina Milovanovic Stamejcic, was a little too good for the Viennese at 2:6, 6:4, 0:6. And in doubles it was Anja-Maria Corciova who, with Noemi Valdes (USA), lost 4:6, 4:6 to the second-seeded Hungarian sisters Csenge and Emese Serkedi in the final after a coup against the top ranked team.
Only for the girls U16 were the red-white-red cup conquests a bit further away: participation in the round of 16 by Anna Lena Demmelbauer, Hannah Schwaiger and Carolina Steinlechner and the semi-final in the doubles by Demmelbauer/Steinlechner remained the highest of emotions here. The top-seeded Latvian Darina Matvejeva became the singles winner, while Hannelore Daniels (Belgium) and Nina Kuptsova (Russia), who were also ranked first, won the doubles.
Here are some impressions from the Bad Waltersdorf Junior Trophy award ceremonies:
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From left to right: Sascha Freitag (organizer), Moritz Freitag (3rd boys U16), Gabriel Niedermayr (1st boys U16), Yannick Julius Swoboda (1st boys U14), Anton Lausegger (head referee).
© Sascha Freitag
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The award ceremony in the boys’ doubles U16, from left to right: 1. Marco Hofer and Gabriel Niedermayr, 2. Petr Minakhin and Radek Lassan.
© Sascha Freitag
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Philipp Strauss (left) and Jannik Rochus El Filali (right) were only stopped together in the final.
© Instagram / jannikelfilali
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The award ceremony in the boys’ doubles U14, from left to right: 2. Jannik Rochus El Filali and Philipp Strauss, 1. Lionel Hermans and Alexander van San.
© Instagram / jannikelfilali
