Bosnia’s new HTT top 100 man Slavisa Ilic has last Monday evening as already reported…
Bosnia’s new HTT top 100 player Slavisa Ilic won the 11th edition of the May HTTT-150 tournament at UTC La Ville last Monday evening, as already reported, and thus further polished up the already impressive overall record of international players on the hobby tennis tour. However, if one takes a closer look at the results of Ilic & Co in the first third of the 2018 season, one notices that the HTT stars from all over the world started into the HTT as badly and unsuccessfully as they did last time in 2011. A report from C.L
Two days ago Slavisa Ilic of the AZ Tennisclub won the title at the 35th HTT-Saisonturnier with a 2:6, 6:1, 6:3 final victory over Michael Rosenmayer at the May HTT-150-Turnier, and thus ensured the second Bosnian tournament victory in HTT history. The Bosnian also became the 71st international player to win a title at the HTT since 1990. The 30-year-old ensured the 168th international tournament victory of the Open era and yet multicultural stars in this year’s first third of the 2018 tennis year are more unsuccessful than they have been for a long time. After Noah Castillo’s first victory for the Dominican Republic at the February Challenge, Trivun Djumic’s March Future victory for Serbia and WAT Landstrasse’s Slovakian Challenger victory Young Star Martin Priban at the Baden AC Open, Slavisa Ilic’s title win at the May HTTT-150 tournament was only the fourth season triumph of the international HTT aces.
Four international HTT tournament victories from the beginning of January to the middle of May, such a bad balance was not to complain the last six years. The HTT cracks, which do not play under the red-white-red flag, started weaker last in 2011, when they came to a meagre three tournament victories. Vukicevic & Co set the best score in the last season, when they had already celebrated 9 international tournament victories at the same time. But what are the reasons for the relapse and lack of success of those HTT stars that make the HTT circuit so colourful and special? Well, there is the weakness of form and the absence of those gentlemen who for years with their great successes were regarded as true title guarantors for the international HTT scene.
Serbia’s 3-time HTT Wimbledon winner Vladimir Vukicevic has been following his top form since November last year, and has not even made it past the HTT quarter-finals this year. For the HTT-International in terms of HTT-successes a huge shortcoming, as the runner-up from Sombor was responsible for no less than 15 tournament victories in the last years. A lion’s share was also contributed by Damian Roman, who disappeared in tennis pension and, as the most successful international player of all time, moved his home country Romania to second place in the national ranking with 17 career titles. Players such as Germany’s David Hühne or Rares Maftei from Romania have currently disappeared from the scene, title suppliers such as Russia’s Stanislav Perepelkin or Serbia’s young star Nemanja Dejanovic are not competitive. So hard times are dawning for the international HTT stars. If the years of success from 2012 to 2017 are to continue, Vukiceivc & Co must soon get back on track.