Generali Race to Kitzbühel: The slightly different route
When the last of the three Generali Race to Kitzbühel qualifying tournaments in the central region has taken place on the coming Pentecost weekend high above the Upper Austrian provincial capital at the ASKÖ Auhof Linz, then we will already be the first fixed starters for the final tournament in Kitzbühel, which is awaited with great excitement and anticipation and at the same time know the first aspirants for the main prize in the form of a Cupra Born.
by Claus Lippert
last edit: May 30, 2022, 08:48 am
But before that there was the second qualifying event in Upper Styria last weekend, which had an ideal venue with the magnificent 15-court tennis facility at ESV Bruck an der Mur and a perfect host with the club, which has over 400 members. In terms of sport, the Styrian Generali Race to Kitzbühel qualification tournament was all about a "Libyan Viennese".
Tournament with three seasons
The Generali Race to Kitzbühel qualifying tournament at ESV Bruck an der Mur with almost 60 participants from four federal states turned out to be a weather-related mix of several seasons. While the amateur players worked up a sweat on the opening day at almost midsummer 30 degrees and sunshine, the big "shivering" was on the program on Sunday's final day. It's a good thing that the tennis facility is located in the Murinsel leisure center and has a wonderful indoor tennis court, so you could avoid the "onset of winter" in Upper Styria with rain and a frosty 10 degrees. This ensured that all six ITN competitions were completed on schedule and that the winners could be awarded shimmering turquoise crystals as always. As mentioned at the beginning, the focus of the action was a man from North Africa who is increasingly becoming the exotic cult figure of the Generali Race to Kitzbühel.
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"Libyan Wiener" as a new cult figure
We are of course talking about Ali Sharif. The man with the extravagant hairstyle and the certain flair and magic of the big, wide and strange world, inspired the weekend in Bruck with a sensational show of strength and a performance that was rewarded with the title win in the ITN 7.0 competition. The 42-year-old from the Terra Rossa tennis club in Vienna advanced to become a strong marathon man at the "Brucker Tennistage" event. With eight matches and six victories within three days, he was able to secure a title and second place. Above all, his success in the 7.0 tournament deserves the utmost respect. The sympathetic from Libya celebrated an outstanding five wins in six matches, and in the extensive group phase was only beaten by local hero Valentin Feiel with 10:12 in the match tiebreak. The fact that Sharif was able to score 10 important points in the Race to Kitzbühel was also due to the fact that his conqueror slipped twice against Elena Minichberger and Manuel Berger.
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After his semi-finals at the qualifying tournament in Carinthian Annenheim, Sharif also took the lead in the Race to Kitzbühel with his title win in Bruck, and can probably already taste the hotel offers in the chamois town for the end of July. But Sharif not only has one foot in the final tournament at the foot of the Hahnenkamm, he also shows very well the slightly different path that one can take as a hobby player from the federal capital. Sharif avoids the brutal hunt for points in eastern Austria with six qualifying tournaments and the huge pack of motivated and success-hungry tennis cracks, and meanwhile collects his points on his personal tour of Austria through the federal states. A somewhat different path, which also seems to have been crowned with success.
Tournament winners from three different federal states
However, the residents of the federal capital who had traveled there also kidnapped a second title from Upper Styria last weekend. Tournament director Thomas Janzso from Ober St. Veiter Tennisclub jumped in for an injured player at short notice, and immediately onto the top podium. In the 5-person ITN competition, the title went to local hero Walter Pretterhofer, but the big winners of the weekend in this category were probably also Ali Sharif and Upper Austrian Michael Gruber, who established themselves in the front field in the race after two qualifying tournaments in the central region . Meanwhile, Adi Theussl became the big winner in the ITN competition 6.0. The 33-year-old from SG SSV Breitenau did not lose a set throughout the tournament and was successful in the final against Michael Gruber from the Upper Austrian club SPG Pichling 6:4, 7:6.
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A title in Upper Styria also fell to Burgenland, and 15-year-old Mathias Kristoferitsch was responsible for this in the ITN 8.0 category. The young man from TC Neustift was ahead in a highly dramatic and fascinatingly balanced group phase thanks to the set ratio and was victorious ahead of the two Styrians Manuel Gumpold and Jonas Dormhofer. The final chance in the Central region to secure the qualification for the Generali Race to Kitzbühel is available to all hobby players this coming weekend with the traditional tournament in Linz, which is always a real highlight, and where Georg Hellmonseder is up high the "Alm" at the ASKÖ Auhof Linz is looking forward to your coming.