The preliminary round tournaments Generali Race to Kitzbühel 2023 are fully held and the participants of the final tournament as part of the Generali Open, which will take place from July 29th to August 5th, 2023. In the tennisnet interview, tournament director Claus Lippert gives an insight into the process of the largest amateur tennis tournament in Europe.
von tennisnet.com
last edited: 07/28/2023, 11:46 am
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Tournament organizer Claus Lippert can draw an all-round positive conclusion so far.
tennisnet: Mr. Lippert, you have been the tournament director of the Generali Race to Kitzbühel for a number of years. Can you describe what kind of tournament this is?
Claus Lippert: The Generali Race to Kitzbühel is the largest amateur tennis tournament in Europe, which is held throughout Austria. Great prizes are also at stake, this year 10,000 euros in cash. All amateur tennis players who are not ranked higher than ITN-3 can take part. Excluded are current and former pro players, even if their ITN would be above 3.
tennisnet: How does the tournament series mode work to qualify for the final tournament at the Generali Open:
CL: From mid-April to the end of July, 12 tournaments were held this year, with at least one tournament taking place in each federal state. In these tournaments, participants can collect points. The best players in each ITN category in each region, which is divided into Austria West, Central and East, qualify for the final tournament at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel, where 10,000 euros are at stake.
tennisnet: What is the intention of the tournament series and how can participants with different skill levels be accommodated in one tournament?
CL: The idea was born a few years ago on the initiative of Alex Antonitsch, which was intended to appeal to as many tennis fans as possible. We were looking for a mode that would bring together as many amateur players as possible from a wide range of skill levels. That’s when we came up with the idea of a “Tie Break Shoot Out” with a handicap system, which we then implemented. A tie-break of up to 10 points is played, with the player with the weaker ITN receiving the number difference as a point advantage. In 2017 we played the final in front of a large crowd on Center Court for the first time, and the initially somewhat skeptical audience was carried away by the dramatic match, which started with a seven-point difference. Since then, the event has been on everyone’s lips.
tennis net: What challenges do you have to overcome when running the tournaments?
CL: For me, as an experienced tournament organizer, running the Generali Race to Kitzbühel is a real challenge, as the series runs from April to the end of July, when the team championships also take place in Austria. On the one hand, in addition to the league games, it is also important to schedule participation in the tournaments. On the other hand, you need clubs with sufficient space capacity that can also host such a tournament.
tennisnet: The preliminary round tournaments have already been completed. As an organizer, what conclusions can you draw so far?
CL: The conclusion is absolutely positive. The players fully accept that and are thrilled that you can qualify for a real tennis highlight. Countless amateur players dream of a match on the Center Court in Kitzbühel in front of a full house for the handsome prize money.
tennisnet: What is there to report about the composition of the participant fields?
CL: From this year we have lowered the minimum age, which means that we had a range of participants from 12 to 75 years. Before the final tournament, we had exactly 1,228 registrations. At the two tournaments in Vienna and Tyrol we had waiting lists of up to 30 players and even had to bring the entry deadline forward and close the registration window early. The participants were from a total of 22 different countries, not only from the classic tennis nations such as Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, England, Switzerland, USA, Serbia or France, but also from exotic countries such as Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and the Philippines. Incidentally, our record winner Ali Sharif comes from Libya and has already won six crystal trophies for his titles.
tennisnet: Are there any special features to report during the preliminary round tournaments?
CL: Something very special was of course the start of two Austrian Olympic champions. Alpine skier Matthias Mayer competed in Carinthia, while Nordic combined athlete Bernhard Gruber served at the tournament in Tyrol and was even able to qualify for the final tournament in Kitzbühel.
tennisnet: How exactly will the final tournament in Kitzbühel take place as part of the Generali Open 2023?
CL: Austria’s best 72 players in the respective ITN categories have qualified for the final tournament. These are then drawn at random, regardless of their skill level, in a tournament in which the appeal of the “Tie Break Shoot Out” with a handicap system comes into its own. The final tournament will start on Thursday, August 3rd at the tennis club in Going am Wilden Kaiser, where the quarter-finalists will be determined. They then compete on the final day of the Generali Open on the facility for the quarter- and semi-finals to play off the two finalists, who then fight for the winner’s check and title before the ATP final on center court in front of a large audience. Of course, we wouldn’t mind having Austrian participation again this year in the big final with almost 6,000 spectators, like last year’s Filip Misolic.
Thank you for the interview and continued success with the final tournament as part of the Generali Open 2023.
All information about the final tournament can be found at:
https://www.generaliopen.com/de/generali-race-to-kitzbuehel/
2023-07-28 10:06:24
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