ATP Challenger Ismaning: class reunion of night owls
At the ATP Challenger tournament in Ismaning, Dennis Novak alone represents the red-white-red colors. Germany, on the other hand, plays with a full band.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Oct 09, 2022, 07:44 pm
Attentive Asterix readers have known since the very strong volume "The Trabantenstadt" at the latest: Several sleepless nights in a row will sooner or later become tiring. The current ATP world number one in terms of sleepless nights is likely to be Dennis Novak, who recorded Sunday at TC Ismaning for his appearances at the Challenger in the north of Munich. Maximilian is almost three weeks old, Novak's second offspring. And as an exemplary father, Austria's current number three (behind Jurij Rodionov and Filip Misolic) has turned nights into days.
How will that affect the Ismaninger Halle? Novak is in fourth place, meets Denis Yevseyev from Kazakhstan at the start, which sounds basically feasible. However, the night from Sunday to Monday could have been a difficult game for Novak again: Because SK Rapid, which he favored, lost the Vienna city derby against Austria early on Sunday evening 1: 2.
Novak in Ismaning solo artist
Incidentally, Novak is appearing as a red-white-red solo artist in Ismaning this year. Lucas Miedler and Alexander Erler would have been natural candidates to start, in any case in doubles. In fact, the two caught a slot in the grid of the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Florence. Actually beautiful. If it weren't for Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic, who won the title in Astana yesterday, Sunday.
The host nation, on the other hand, is present in squad strength, which also applies to the coaches. Michael Kohlmann is just as natural in Ismaning as Lars Uebel, the sporting director of the TennisBase in Oberhaching. By the way, Kohlmann and Uebel can give Dennis Novak a hand when it comes to lack of sleep, albeit for different reasons: The Major League Baseball playoffs began a few days ago, and the Kohlmann/Uebel duo share a great interest in this sport. They will no longer be able to agree on a common favorite team.
#IMG2#
Carlo Tränhardt also stops by
The qualification Sunday seemed like a German class reunion, with some students who already have their degrees in their pockets (Matthias Bachinger, for example), some youngsters who first have to earn their merits (Liam Garviliedes or Justin Engel), and the legendary sports teacher, who still takes care of the little ones even after his active career: namely Carlo Tränhardt, who has also been supporting Michael Kohlmann in the Davis Cup support team for years.
A casual tournament week is announced. If you have the opportunity, you should watch it live and on site.