Generali Race to Kitzbühel: glorious weather, postcard idyll and a child prodigy
Perfect weather, postcard idyll, a landscape panorama with mountain peaks under an azure sky like in a kitschy local film, plus ambitious, good-humoured participants, in a word, the final qualification tournament of the Generali Race to Kitzbühel last weekend in the Going tennis club is one great tennis festival that will be remembered for a long time. The final competition in the western region also had a number of sporting highlights to offer with 96 entries from four federal states.
by Claus Lippert
last edit: Jul 19, 2022, 01:27 pm
Tennis tournaments at TC Going are always something extraordinary
Tennis tournaments on the Pramaweg in Going always have an incomparable flair. The almost endless hospitality of the hosts around chairwoman Theresa Hager and ex-chairman Robert Hager, the relaxed nature of the Tyrolean tennis players and a fantastic landscape make events under the Wilder Kaiser so extraordinary. While the hobby players in the east of the country often seem satiated and consider weekly opportunities to play at ITN tournaments as given everyday life, the tennis-playing men and women from the western federal states are grateful for any reasonable competition around the small yellow felt ball.
This happy and relaxed approach to such an ITN tournament once again created an atmosphere over the past weekend that one would wish for from time to time at tournaments in the east of the country. In the various tennis clubs in the Ländle and in the holy land of Tyrol, there will be a lot to tell and discuss this Monday. An exciting weekend with fantastic performances and surprising results raised a lot of dust.
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"Look Gemma Prodigy"
Especially in the Kaiser communities of Ellmau & Going there is only one topic among tennis insiders these days! "Do you hoist from the child prodigy?" Yes, this Ellmauer child prodigy was the central topic of conversation before, during and after the last qualifying tournament high above Going. And so on Sunday after going to church and having a pint, "Looking at the child prodigy" was on the program. And this child prodigy kept what was said and expected of him. A jam-packed center court at the final of the ITN 4.0 competition provided a worthy setting in which the child prodigy played, won and was greeted with admiring applause at the end. Incidentally, this child prodigy also has a name and an eventful recent past to boot. Vladimir Dombrovskyi is a 14-year-old bright and happy teenager, at least at first sight. In view of his recent experiences, one can only guess what it looks like deep inside him. The 14-year-old had to flee the madness in his homeland with his mother.
The two ended up in Ellmau with only the bare essentials, where the local tennis community takes good care of the two. "Vladi" as they call the newly crowned Generali Race Champion, every wish is read from their lips as best they can. After all, tennis is the only thing that the young Bua from Kyiv has left in view of abandoned schoolmates, missing friends and lost home. On the way to the HTT premiere title, Dombrovskyi beat two teenagers, Philip Draxinger and Salzburg's Christoph Wimmer, and Hannes Matt and Markus "Kosksi" Kogler in the final of the full Fieberbrunner routine. Above all, the successes over Matt & Kogler brought "Vladi" an ITN improvement from 5.0 to 4.1 in addition to the turquoise shimmering crystal trophy and 250 ranking list points.
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Smart Dirndl from Innsbruck inspires the TC Going
Motivated and determined, the Ukrainian child prodigy has already set his sights on a far greater trophy. The 14-year-old from Kyiv was fascinated by the huge, silver Euro pots for the upcoming HTT Generali Open Kitzbühel, which started next Monday, in the Going clubhouse. It also remains questionable how long "Vladi" can still be admired as a child prodigy in Ellmau. The future of the youngster from Ukraine could lie in the up-and-coming Viennese tennis academy of Alen & Amel Bisevac. The week after next there is an audition in the federal capital. However, Dombrovskyi had to share the role of star at the Going tennis festival at the end of the Austria-wide Generali Race qualifying phase with another teenager. A "snazzy dirndl" from Innsbrucker Land enchanted the Going tennis club and its guests with its three-day performance in the Unterland. Vanessa Stauder ensured the long-awaited female success in the 8-man competition this tennis weekend, and a little hype about her person. This in turn was due to the performance of the 15-year-old, with whom she knew how to shine both on and off the pitch.
In terms of play, the young Innsbrucker convinced with cheeky, powerful and creative tennis, "Vanessa" excelled in fighting with two wins over her compatriots Maximilian Steffner and Michael Kupfner in a match tie break, before she crowned herself in the final against Croatia's strong playing Igor Brusic. And Stauder also knew how to please away from the court. With her there was none of the boring run-of-the-mill award ceremonies. Hers had "Pep"! Genuine joy when receiving the crystal, gestures & grimaces at the winning photo, and an exuberant after-show party with her local fan club, Vanessa knows how to celebrate victories. And in one fell swoop, the Tyrolean is also qualified for the final tournament in Kitzbühel. And quite honestly: the 15-year-old can do anything in the fight for the Cupra Born.
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All six Generali Race Going titles remain in Tyrol
In view of the radiant performances of "Vanessa & Vladi", the other winners almost took a back seat, although their achievements are no less impressive. There was the success of Lukas Schermer in the 5-man competition. The 30-year-old from Brixen im Thale stayed in control and didn't lose a set, just like the 15-year-old from Kitzbühel, Christopher Engel, who lived up to his role as a clear favorite in the ITN category 6.0. In the 9-man competition, Michael Kupfner from Bad Häring took the title. The 28-year-old outclassed his club colleague Jürgen Hintner in the quarter-finals, benefited on Sunday morning in the semi-finals from a defective vehicle of his opponent who gave up at the end, and completed his triumphal procession with a 6:2, 6:3 win over Maximilian Scheffner from Ellmau.
The trophy and medal in the ITN 7.0 competition finally went to the Ausserfern in Tyrol. Maxi Weber and Jakob Rothleithner from TC Raiba Ehrwald each celebrated three victories on the way to the final duel within the club. As is well known, there can always only be one winner in tennis, and in the end his name was Maxi Weber, who narrowly got the upper hand with 3:6, 6:1, 10:3. All six titles stayed in the holy land of Tyrol, and that's where the big final tournament of the Generali Race to Kitzbühel 2022 will take place on July 28th. Then the Cupra Born is up for grabs and the nerves of all participants are put to the test.
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