Lukas Prüger rushes into the semi-finals of the HTT tour finals 2017 without losing a set

After Serbia’s HTT superstar Vladimir Vukicevic, seasonal dominator Lukas Prüger has also won the group stage….

After Serbia’s HTT superstar Vladimir Vukicevic, season’s dominant Lukas Prüger has also won the group stage of the 28th round. HTT Tour finals in 2017 at the UTC La Ville ended unbeaten, and with his third preliminary round win he confidently reached the semi-finals at the big season finale of the Hobby Tennis Tour. On Thursday evening, the 19-year-old won his first of the two decisive semi-final single games in Group A against HTT-wimbledon finalist Christoph Beutler in 63 minutes with a score of 6:2.6:3, making him the only player to finish the group stage of this year’s “finals” without losing a set. With his 41. Individual victory in the season also paved the way for Matthias Wolf, who would not have had a chance to reach the semi-finals of the HTT Tour finals if Beutler had been successful. A report by C. L.

Season’s high-flyer Lukas Prüger also won his third and last preliminary match at the HTT-Tour finals in the UTC La Ville on Thursday evening, and in the clear 6:2,6:3 victory over the Olympic runners-up of 2016 Christoph Beutler in the eighth semifinal of the season in a hurry. The first-ranked tennis player at the Centercourt was always in control of an extremely attractive match, in which Prüger demonstrated his current exceptional position impressively, and Beutler showed what a fantastic tennis player he is with his changed tactics and rung attitude. The result was an entertaining exchange of shots marked by an extremely high number of remarkable rallies, in which the two HTT Top Ten Stars did not hold back with grandiose tennis artistry, and for the delight of the audience produced together no less than 70 winners.

After his shameful performance against Alexander Schager, in which Beutler criticized the lack of fun in tennis, the 33-year-old from Marswiese showed himself to be extremely playful last night and presented himself with the right plan to meet the young man on the other side in such a way that in the end his personal fun factor – which, according to his own statement, was still at – 10, this time much higher than he had expected. Beutler played “Serve & Volley”, he even conjures up “Chip & Charge”, and he obviously had fun with what he did. Thus, the first set was open to 3:2, whereby Beutler even left three break possibilities unused, before the number 1 in the sixth game as a backstroke demonstrated his extra class for the first time, and the power relations at the center court steered into the correct course. The HTT French Open Champion scored a 4-2 break and won the first set 6-2 after only 26 minutes, 4 minutes late.

Also in the second set Beutler offered a more than pleasing performance and quite honestly:”It would have been possible for the experienced player to do far more in this game. It takes an extraordinary day to beat a fighter, and Beutler didn’t have one like that. But the 33-year-old had the chance to win more games and, above all, to win games at a time that would have made life at the center court much more difficult for Prüger. After an early break Beutler scored 1:0 in a match ball, beating 2:0 with a slight backhand error. Even in the sixth game, which is probably the most important match in the first set, Beutler gives a big chance when he “fills up” the ball on the racket instead of into the field, the opponent on the racket and thus loses a volley duel in a favourable 3:3 position on the net. Punch led 4:2 with it, could afford in the subsequent game even double error No. 5 before he set to 5:2, and also a awarded match ball in Beutler’s results-technical cosmetics to the 3:5 was in the end no longer a leg break. With a backhand winner, the 19-year-old turned his third match point into a 6-2,6-3 win and increased his head-to-head with Beutler to 2-1.

I didn’t want to play too long rallies from the beginning, this may be due to the fact that I didn’t want to do it myself, and of course also because of Luke, because going with him for long rallies, especially on this slow surface, doesn’t make sense. So I tried to have fun playing Serve & Volley and also Chip & Charge, and unfortunately I didn’t quite manage to do that very well, but it was all right,”says the 33-year-old, who judged his Masters performance in 2017 as follows:” I’m fine today. In the first match I fought my way in, that was ok. The second match against Alex was a nasty one, but I couldn’t motivate myself at all. I didn’t really enjoy that much up to -10, and he played it very well. It was a conciliatory end today “, Beutler drew his personal Masters balance sheet.

It was hard to get in, because Christoph didn’t make it easy for me today. I didn’t get any rhythm right from the start, because he kept the rallies to 90% very short, so I’m very happy about the outcome of the game. It could have been much scarcer. Still, I’m somehow divided today. According to the statistics I must have played great, but it felt bad on the pitch. I also lacked concentration today and I have never really been able to build up tension. The group went great and I’m happy that all the matches went smoothly. It could also have been much tighter,”says Prüger, who does not want to make the success of his HTT season dependent on the outcome of the current tournament,” The season is almost unique, apart from the first four tournaments. No matter how the semi-final ends, you can’t talk badly about the season. Of course, it would be a pity if I wasn’t the number 1 HTT at the end of the season. That would be “zach” for me nasty, I will give my best until the end,”said Prüger. When asked about his favourite role, the 19-year-old said:”I always have pressure, at least a little bit. But I’m going into the semi-final against Kevin with the knowledge of losing too, as we saw two weeks ago. I don’t get too much stress and just try to get my performance. Then the Kevin must also have a murderous day to beat me,”says the leader of the rankings, who would place a possible title win at the top of his hit list of all tournament victories.” While in normal tournaments in the first and sometimes also in the second round you have easier opponents to play, you can lose every match here in the Tour Finals from the first game away “.