Austrian Tennis Championships

Neumayer well on the way to defending his title

Lukas Neumayer has reached the semi-finals of the Austrian Tennis Championships.(Bild: GEPA pictures/Mario Buehner-Weinrauch)

Lukas Neumayer has won the Salzburg derby at the Austrian Tennis Championships. The player from Radstadt gave his STC club colleague Gabriel Schmidt no chance and defeated him 6:3, 6:3. Filip Misolic awaits him in the semi-finals.

A duel between good friends took place on Friday in the quarter-finals of the Austrian Championships in Oberpullendorf (B). In the end, Lukas Neumayer emerged victorious. He clearly defeated his friend Gabriel Schmidt 6:3, 6:3. "I've known Gabriel for an extremely long time, I used to train with him a lot. We even played together before our match," said Neumayer, who is now in the semi-finals. For STC team-mate Gabriel Schmidt, on the other hand, the tournament is over: "I think I can be satisfied. I played a good tournament."

Neumayer still sees room for improvement. "The match was certainly good, but there are still a few small things missing," says the 21-year-old. He needs two more wins to secure his third state championship title en suite. To do so, he will have to overcome a strong opponent in the semi-finals on Saturday; the Radstadt native will face Filip Misolic (won against Gerald Melzer 6:4, 6:2). "It's great when you have such good matches. It's very good before a tournament like Salzburg," says Neumayer, who is already looking forward to the Salzburg Open, which starts on Sunday with the qualifiers. Like youngster Joel Schwärzler, Neumayer has qualified for the main event thanks to a wildcard.

Arabella Koller is among the top four in the women's event. Koller had previously defeated Alina Michalitsch 6:1, 6:1.