Matthias Haim has won his first professional title in singles. The 20-year-old Austrian defeats number 1 seeded Spaniard Mario Vilella Martínez in the final of the best wood Schneider Tennis Open in Bad Schussenried on Sunday afternoon.
Four times the number 588 of the ATP world rankings could take the serve off his opponent in order to achieve a 6:3, 6:4 success after 67 minutes.
Haim lives in Dornbirn and decided this week to compete in Bad Schussenried, Upper Swabia, due to the proximity of the tournament to his home town. He thus rejected the parallel futures in Kramsach in Tyrol. “In the last years I didn’t play so well in Kramsach and I wanted to try something new and it fit quite well. The coaches will also come along and I can play doubles with my training partner,” Haim says during the tournament. At the side of Swiss Adrian Bodmer he also reached the quarter finals at the sand court event endowed with 15,000 US dollars, which was held for the first time this year. Together with Jakob Sude from Friedrichshafen and Philipp Oswald from Austria, they form a kind of “Lake Constance clique”.
During joint stays in his original homeland Tyrol, the former number 47 Andreas Haider-Maurer is also an occasional training partner, whom Haim calls a “totally fine fellow”. “We get along very well and we always have a lot of fun together.”
As a change from the normal tennis tour, the almost two-metre tall blonde also competes for Telfs in the Austrian league. And with success. “We’re in the premier league,” Haim points out.
Speaking of telfs. Last week’s $15,000 ITF Futures Tournament reached the final. At that time Haim failed in two sets because of Vilella Martínez. An experience that perhaps helped him at the event in Bad Schussenried to defeat the Spanish rider from the Equelite Academy of Juan Carlos Ferrero in Villena, who was better placed by over 200 places.
Haim contributes 18 ATP world ranking points to the success in Baden-Württemberg. On Monday he will be at position 532, a new career high for Haim.
“The year has actually been rather mixed so far. I was sick three times longer, so I couldn’t train and play much,” said the right-hander, who suffered from a persistent virus that had robbed him of all his energy.
“Only since last week I’m really fit again, which is reflected in the result in Telfs. Now it’s time to carry on like this in order to move up in the ranking. However, I do not set myself specific goals.”
The aspired changes on the part of the world tennis federation ITF in the coming year no more ATP points on the Pro Circuit to assign play the participants in these spheres of the world rank list probably less into the cards.
“The worst part is that no one knows exactly what’s going to happen. A few details have been announced, but how it will actually be implemented is not yet known. We can only hope that the system will be good,” explains Haim, who receives financial support from his family in order to be able to continue on the tour. Including his recent success, Haim has earned around $20,000 in prize money in his career.
“I am fortunate not to come from a poor family,” says the ardent football fan of the Fc Bayern. This is also not “super-rich, but just normal”. His stepfather is a lawyer and his mother a housewife, who primarily looks after Matthias’ two smaller siblings.
He also has sponsors. “You can make ends meet,” says the young professional confidently. “Of course, it’s also important to play well.”
The serve and his forehand he calls his strongest weapons. “My weaknesses were mainly the footwork and my backhand. I’ve been working on that, though. Now it’s time to further improve the strengths.”
The top players in Austria also serve as additional motivation. “Last year it was Sebastian Ofner who had a great run at Wimbledon. This year Dennis Novak has reached the third round. Both players who were on the road on the futures not so long ago. You realize that the jump to the ATP Challenger and other higher levels isn’t as big as you might think. The head, mental strength is very important in tennis. If you work hard on yourself, you can make it,” Haim says motivated. Further opportunities to take another step forward will arise in the coming weeks.