Generali Open 2022: Filip Misolic - "This will help me a lot in the future"
Filip Misolic reached his first final on the ATP tour at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel. For the 20-year-old, the successful run in the chamois town should only be the start of a great career.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Jul 31, 2022, 07:41 pm
Filip Misolic can look back on an incredible week at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel: Equipped with a wildcard by tournament director Alexander Antonitsch, the 20-year-old immediately reached the first final in his first ATP event in Tyrol, making the hearts of Austrian tennis fans beat faster .
Thanks to his successful run in Kitzbühel, Misolic will be the new red-white-red number one on Monday. In 137th place, the man from Graz will be five places ahead of Jurij Rodionov. "Of course it's a dream to be Austria's number one. I'm very happy, but I'll continue to train every day, fight to play better and better," said Misolic.
Misolic is aiming for world number one
The Styrian, who will celebrate his 21st birthday on August 8th, has big plans for the future. The long-term goal, according to Misolic, is "of course" world ranking number one, "but generally taking part in the finals of such tournaments. You just feel special like in a final like today."
The road to the final could hardly have been more spectacular for Misolic. After two relatively clear victories at the beginning of the tournament, the 20-year-old caught up a 2:6 and 3:5 deficit against Dusan Lajovic in the quarter-finals, the semi-final against Yannick Hanfmann was even more dramatic: Misolic was already behind in the third set with a double break, as well the German already served to win the match. Nevertheless, it was Misolic who - after a rain interruption at the beginning of the all-important tie-break - entered the final a day later than originally planned by the organizers.
Misolic "learns from every match"
In the end, Misolic had no chance against Roberto Bautista Agut, but the man from Graz also took positives from the game against the Spaniard: "I learned from every match from the first round to the final. That will help me a lot in the future. It's not easy to play at that level in general, and certainly not in the first final against Roberto."
"I don't know myself what happened during the week. (...) I think I'll only realize what I've done here in a few hours," Misolic explained. In the coming days, the 20-year-old will start training on hard court in preparation for qualifying at the US Open.
Here is the individual tableau in Kitzbühel
kitzmap