Debutant Noah Grossmann advances to 450th tournament winner of the HTT Open era

Young star Noah Grossmann has lost his last Saturday in round 1 against HTT record player Markus…

Young star Noah Grossmann started his triumphal march against HTT record player Markus Hobiger last Saturday in round 1 at the 8. Four days later, he finished the second edition of the April HTTT-150 tournament in Südstadt with a final victory over number 4 seeded Martin Prechtl and refined his impressive HTT debut with the triumph at the 23rd season tournament in Maria Enzersdorf. In the final between the generations, the 13-year-old defeated Martin Prechtl, 25 years older, in 76 minutes 6:4, 6:0, and thus prolonged the current track record of the HTT youth with the 11th teenager title in 2018. Grossmann is the eleventh new winner of this season, and the surprise man of the second outdoor event of the year has also become the 450th tournament winner in HTT history since 1990.

Before the grand finale of the 1,218 Singleturnier of the Open era there was a Meet and Greet with Austria’s best wheelchair tennis player and the current No. 25 of the Wheelchair world ranking Nico Langmann, after the match a joint appearance with the papa of the currently seventh-best tennis player in the world Wolfgang Thiem, and in between Noah Grossmann, who was completely unknown in the HTT scene before the tournament began, delivered part 5 of his impressive HTT debut at the April HTTT-150 tournament in the southern city. In imperial weather with “sunny, full” windless conditions and a pleasant air temperature of 20 degrees, both the later winner and his challenger, who was a quarter of a century older, found perfect conditions for a final showdown, who had to offer an open exchange of blows in the first movement and an impressive solo show by Grossmann in the second. With this final gala, the young star, who trains with Wolfgang Thiem in Südstadt, successfully completed a tournament in which, despite his technical skills, it was not so easy for him to lift the wonderful silver trophy into the sunny Maria Enzersdorfer sky at the end. Noah had warmed up in the first two rounds against HTT record holder Markus Hobiger (339 tournament participations on the hobby tennis tour) and Thomas Lung, he had to work hard two rounds for three sets each before he and Laurenz Rattasits and Mario Bürger won the number 2 and 3 of the April HTT-150 tournament.

At his final premiere Grossmann met Martin Prechtl, who sneaked into his fourth HTT career endgame away from the “tournament radar” and in the shadow of the well-known favourites. And the opening game was symbolic of a first set that could hardly have been more competitive. Prechtl started with his own serve and a 40:0 lead, Grossmann countered and even found three chances for the first break, before the experienced player took the first turn with a 1-0 lead. But his opponent’s answer did not last long, Grossmann equalled the score 1:1, before both players showed their best side on their own serve, each with an intermediate score of 2:2 to zero. The young star then took the first break and cheered on the 3:2 lead as a combination of great basic tennis and luck with the net band. In the following game, however, Prechtl immediately had the opportunity to strike back promptly due to Grossmann’s second double mistake. For the time being, Grossmann was able to prevent the re-break with a net roller and a massive forehand winner. The 13-year-old was less successful in the same situation 13 minutes later. Again Prechtl has a break point, and this time the 38-year-old shines with a drained volley to equalize 4:4. The ninth game of the first set was then extremely competitive, and in the review by the winners and losers it turned out to be decisive in its outcome. Prechtl initially took a 30:0 lead, later missed a 5:4 match ball in a promising position on the net, and so the 5:4 lead finally went to Grossmann, who used his fourth break ball in this game as a setback with a wonderful forehand pass ball for 5:4. 5 minutes later Grossmann had finished the first set with a final forehand crash after 51 minutes played with 6:4 and set the course for winning the title.

The second sentence is quickly told! Grossmann had got rid of his initial nervousness, Prechtl let the last close phase of this final pass unused right at the beginning with an awarded break ball for 1:1, and thus the starting shot for the extraordinary gala performance of Noah Grossmann at the sun-drenched centre court of the Südstadt had been fired. Prechtl followed every ball, no matter how hopeless it may seem, Grossmann had long since grooved in from the griund line with his fast and precise play, and with 17:3 winners also statistically clear the upper hand in this set, which lasted just once in 24 minutes. One last backhand winner from Grossmann, where the small yellow felt dripped unplayable into the field of the opponent via net band, finally finished the 8th edition of the April HTT-150 tournament. Almost apologetically for his dominant performance in this second movement, Grossmann’s gesture pointed in the direction of his opponent before the young star was able to celebrate his premiere triumph on the hobby tennis tour. “I played very well today, especially in the second set, in the first set I still had big problems with my opponent’s unorthodox game. The joy about my first HTT tournament victory is of course very great,” the winner beamed, while the defeated Prechtl analysed briefly and succinctly after his second lost final: “At 4-4 in the first set, the chances were there. You have to hit an opponent like that,” says the 38-year-old.