Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas left nothing to be desired at the final of the Adidas Club Challenge in Wörschach.
The frequency of helicopter flights over Wörschach in Upper Styria is rather low. So it’s no wonder that the fans got excited when a helicopter landed near the Sport Union Wörschach facility shortly after noon.
False alarm, of course. Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who stood in for Alexander Zverev at short notice, came an hour later to celebrate the end of the Adidas Club Challenge. To say that the victorious tennis club has dressed up would be an understatement: grandstands, food stands, folk music.
It was served for Austria’s number one and the former industry leader of juniors.
Tsitsipas, so it wanted the lucky coincidence of fate, is in Kufstein these days. There his younger brother is involved in the traditional youth tournament, Stefanos has not grown out of this stage for too long. The Greek has really arrived on the ATP Tour this year, not least with his final entry at the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Barcelona.
Tsitsipas defeated Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals, in the third of four matches in 2018. Thiem leads in the balance with 3:1, the appearance in Wörschach will not be recorded by the chroniclers of the ATP.
After all, the two brand colleagues came here in a very profane way by car, enthusiastically received by 1,500 fans. Much more than Wörschach has inhabitants. It is quite possible, by the way, that Stefanos Tsitsipas was not the first time in this area: According to reports, the Greek has an aunt in the neighbouring village Liezen.
Dominic Thiem was also allowed to rely on the support of the family; besides father Wolfgang and mother Karin, Brother Moritz had also travelled to Styria.
The training set against Tsitsipas theoretically opened for Dominic Thiem the preparation for the second half of the season, which should start with the first match in 2018 in the German Tennis Bundesliga next Sunday in Mannheim. It goes without saying that there will be a higher intensity there than on this Monday in the Styrian Enns Valley.
Afterwards it goes on to Hamburg, where Stefanos also called Tsitsipas. The 19-year-old then starts his hard court season, Thiem stays in Europe for another week and finally wants to win the title in Kitzbühel.
Many fans from Wörschach will certainly go there – as well as to the Davis Cup against Australia in the Styrian capital Graz in September. For one day, however, the 1,100-people resort was Austria’s tennis capital.
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