Mauthausen: Novak wins the duel between the Austrians
Second win in a row for Dennis Novak on his comeback from injury. Against the Tyrolean Sandro Kopp , who made it into the main draw with a wildcard, No. 174 in the ATP ranking fought his way to a 7: 5, 3: 6, 6: 3 win.
by Dietmar Kaspar
last edit: May 11, 2023, 04:52 pm
Despite a light drizzle, numerous spectators were looking forward to the Austrian clash and should be rewarded with an exciting game in which the momentum changed several times. After winning the first round, the course for the 29-year-old Novak was early in the second act with a score of 3: 1, but the Lower Austrian had to give up five games in a row and thus accept the set equalization. In the decisive round, Nokak had the better end and won 7:5, 3:6 and 6:3 after almost two hours of play.
In the round of eight, the Austrian Davis Cup player with Hamad Medjedovic has a tough task to face. The 19-year-old Serb, who trains at Novak Djokovic's academy in Belgrade and was able to work his way up to 9th place in the juniors' ranking, clearly triumphed 6: 3, 6: 1 against Swiss Alexander Ritschard.
After the match, Novak analyzed: "I got into the game very well and had the ball very well on the racket. But after an unfortunate rebreak, I caught myself again and was able to make out the sentence well. With a break lead in the second set, I fell into a hole that I can't explain myself, but it's probably due to my lack of match practice. Luckily I found my way back into the third set and was ultimately able to win the match."