2023-07-28 15:07:17
After his round of 16 defeat in Italy, Salzburger traveled straight on to Tyrol.
After two confident victories in qualifying and the surrender of his opponent after just one set in the opening round, tennis pro Lukas Neumayer was the final stop on Thursday in the round of 16 of the ATP Challenger tournament in Verona. The disappointment about the three-set defeat against local hero Stefano Napolitano was quickly alleviated. Because the early exit in Italy gave the 20-year-old from Salzburg the opportunity to play in the big home tournament in Kitzbühel after all.
“I was hoping that there would still be a place available for me. When I saw that Jurij Rodionov had made it into the semi-finals in Zug, I knew it would be enough,” says Neumayer, who was long before the official notification by the ATP to Kitzbühel. “We left right after my defeat and were there at half past two in the morning on Friday.”
The man from Radstadt had shown his best side for a long time in Verona. “The first three matches were very good. But in the round of 16 the level was extremely high right from the start. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to maintain my own level after winning the first set and so let my opponent come up,” reports Neumayer.
While the crowd in Italy was on the side of his opponent in the round of 16, he can count on great support from the ranks from Saturday (qualification start) in Kitzbühel. “Of course I’m particularly looking forward to that. The atmosphere in Verona was actually extremely good. My style of play is usually well received by the crowd, but of course it can’t be compared to a home tournament like the one in Salzburg recently,” says Neumayer.
The fans carried it to the finals at the tournament in the Volksgarten. “They gave me great support there, especially in the semi-finals it helped me a lot,” recalls the 20-year-old.
In terms of self-confidence, the strong performance in Salzburg gave him a boost again. “My start to the season was very difficult. Also because I had planned so much, my performances were disappointing for me. Now I’m playing much faster than I was six months ago and I feel very comfortable on the pitch again,” explains Neumayer. In Kitzbühel, that should at least bring him back into the main field (as in 2021). Last year it was already over for him in the first qualifying round.
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