Great tennis at "Next up now" in Kitzbühel - Alexander Antonitsch: "Come to stay"
Thijs Boogaard won the first edition of the "Next up now" invitation tournament in Kitzbühel. An event to encourage young people and bring them into contact with the ATP structure for the first time. Tournament Director Alexander Antonitsch takes stock.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Aug 01, 2022, 05:21 pm
The Generali Open in Kitzbühel celebrated a very special new addition in 2022: For the first time this year, an invitation tournament for U14 players was held as part of the ATP 250 event with "Next up now" to give young talent a stage - and a financial bonus available for further development.
Champion Thijs Boogaard can look forward to over 9,000 euros in development money after his clear victory in the final for Carel Ngounoue. The Dutchman was able to prevail at the U14 European Championships just a few days ago. The interest in Boogaard is correspondingly high, as Alexander Antonitsch explains to tennisnet.com : "Some people already have him in mind. The manager of Medvedev and Nishikori already has him under his wing. So he's already on the radar of the big agencies. "
Debut a resounding success
In Kitzbühel, the Dutchman was very relaxed, "had a slight smile on his face from the first to the last minute," as Antonitsch explains. And the reigning U14 European Champion also knew how to convince in terms of play: "For his age, he plays extremely cleverly, extremely compactly." In terms of sport, the entire event brought great performances to light, and the fans at the Grandstand - which was free to visit - were surprised at the high quality of the young players.
All in all, the first edition of "Next up now" was a complete success for the organizers: "The players were super excited. They were invited by us, we paid the flight and hotel costs, they were in the Player's Lounge with us ", explains Antonich. "The only downside is that we couldn't play the final on Center Court because of the weather," said the tournament director. "But at the award ceremony, I really noticed how the boys were beginning to tremble because the stadium was still very full after the individual."
Kitzbühel wants to support young people
The aim of the event is to promote young people - and to familiarize them with the conditions on the ATP tour for the first time, as Antonitsch emphasizes: "It's important to me that these young players have a shine in their eyes, that they have new experiences do and that the ATP is not that far away from the youth players," explains the 56-year-old. "We want to get closer to the players with our tournament in Kitzbühel so that they can get to know this ATP structure and find out what could possibly come their way here."
That also seems to have impressed the ATP, as Antonitsch explains. "We were told that they could possibly get a few more tournaments together and start some kind of series where the boys could maybe qualify for Turin. That would obviously be a dream for an event like this." And the tournament director is certain: "The U14 event in Kitzbühel is here to stay."