The reigning HTT-US Open winner Patrick Wiesmühler is on Saturday after five years of Masters absence….
The current HTT-US Open winner Patrick Wiesmühler returned to the UTC La Ville Centercourt after five years of Masters absence on Saturday afternoon with a victory. Exactly 1,816 days after his last appearance at the HTT-Tour-Finals, when he made a final 4:6,2:6 belly patch against Franz Mayrhuber in the final of the 2012 edition as a big favourite, the 24-year-old ranking third from Team Donaufeld made his comeback appearance not really convincing, but in the end he was successful with two winning sets. The 10-time HTT title holder kept his teammate from TC Donaufeld Filip Markovic in check in the Group B opening match, beating the not disappointing masters debutants in exactly 83 minutes with 6:4 and 6:4. Wiesmühler is still unbeaten at the preliminaries-masters level after his fourth victory in the fourth match, and has excellent chances to qualify for the semi-final of the HTT-Tour-Finals like five years ago. A report by C. L.
At the end of the match, which is so important for all players, Patrick Wiesmühlers’ success at the HTT-Tour-Finals can be summed up against his club colleague Filip Markovic, who made his debut at the Masters. The HTT-US Open winner had made three mistakes less and three points more than his opponent after 43 minutes in a first set with a total of five breaks, and after a 5:2 lead in the meantime, he had unexpectedly narrowly finished the first round. The Wiesmühler on Saturday afternoon did not yet operate at the zenith of his ability, revealed passage no. 2, in which he was in the meantime confronted with a 2:4 deficit. In this phase, in which Wiesmühler seemed anything but saddle-tight, and his otherwise so powerful play from the baseline was ineffective, Markovic puffed at the return several times. Instead of taking a decisive 5:2 lead, he let Wiesmühler come close to 3:4, and a short time later he also messed up his next service game, which he had to give up to 4:4. In the end, after exactly 83 minutes, Markovic had lost four games in a row, and made his debut single at the HTT Tour finals after a final backhand error of 4:6,4:6.
The biggest difference in the analysis of the first single match of the 28. HTT-Tour-Finals could be seen at the service. Serbia’s number 2 is not yet efficient enough, and it is also difficult to beat its opponents in the finals in terms of power and precision. Markovic had 20 per cent more first serve in the field than Wiesmühler, but they are of relatively little use if the quota of points won is below 50 per cent after the first and second serve. The lack of efficiency becomes a problem when a brilliant backstroker like Wiesmühler stands on the other side of the net and is able to capitalise on it,”Patrick is not our number 1 in the club for nothing, and he was simply the better player in the decisive moments. But to be honest, I’m already satisfied, because I’ve played quite well at times today. There were some stupid mistakes and I was not satisfied with my service. But I might be able to improve that in the next two group games,”Markovic said in a first statement after his narrowly lost Masters debut, before he was impressed by the HTT season finale at UTC La Ville:” The surrounding area is amazing. We have free drinks, free food, buffet and a Players-Lounge, we get towels and jackets, you have to thank the HTT-organizer. I was already in the doubles two years ago, but I am of course very happy to be in the singles for the first time now. And I’m looking forward to the next two games,”said 23-year-old Donaufeld’s eighth-place finishers.
“It was the expected hard game. The Filip plays very solidly and is very unpleasant to play on this course because the court is slower than it used to be, which is not necessarily to my advantage. The balls wear off over time, and if you stay on the button all the time, it can easily happen that you go off the court as a loser. He plays the ball in a very constant way, and that’s why I always play a little more defensively against Filip and let him do the match. The HTT-US Open winner, who also sees potential for growth, emphasized that “The main problem today was that I didn’t let the bat run and slowed down the swing again and again. I moved very modestly and made a lot of stupid mistakes. But the Filip has also prepared himself well for me tactically. I would say that it was important to have a good start to the tournament, otherwise it can get tight very quickly and you have to play with pressure. It is of course more comfortable to continue in the current position. I’m looking forward to the next two games, but I’m sure it won’t get any easier. Both are playing quite well at the moment, and Kevin in particular will not be an easy nut to crack on this surface. And Vladi always has a great basic level. Let’s see what happens next. It can go in both directions. I’ll do my best,”Wiesmühler concluded his first press conference at the HTT tour finals this year at UTC La Ville.