Tennis

STC gears up for the new season

STC President Florian Kreibich (left) and his manager Gioia Vavricka have big goals again this year.(Bild: LAUXFOTO-SALZBURG)

The new season of the Tennis Bundesliga starts on May 25. Among them: the traditional Salzburg club STC. Neo-manager Gioia Vavricka was not only able to retain all the key players from last year's team, but also bring additional reinforcements on board.

Things looked bleak at STC at the beginning of December 2018. Following the voluntary departure of long-term manager Stefan Schiess, the traditional club was in danger of losing its place in the Bundesliga. Just under two and a half months later, however, things are looking very different again. After president Florian Kreibich presented a new manager, Gioia Vavricka, at the start of the year, there was new momentum. Now, three months before the Bundesliga opener against Mauthausen on May 25, Vavricka, who is currently studying for her FIFA Master's degree in Milan, was able to present a powerful squad.

In addition to the experienced legionnaires Lukas Rosol, Vit Kopriva, Jaroslav Pospisil (all Tch) and the Germans Sebastian Prechtel, Marco Kirschner, Denny Vojtischek and Hasan Ibrahim, two more EU foreigners have been signed. With 29-year-old Frenchman Remi Boutillier, the current number 565 in the ATP world rankings is coming to the Salzach and 18-year-old Czech Tomas Machac will also be swinging his racquet for the STC in future. "Tomas is a young Czech player and can support Jaroslav and Vit, who have been part of the team for some time," explained Vavricka.

However, the Austrians are also set to take on even more responsibility at STC in the future. "Jakob Aichhorn and Benedikt Emesz are very important for the team, as is Jakob Erler," said the 25-year-old manager. "Above all, I want to increase Benedikt's commitment and focus more on young players. This will be very important in the future, especially with the Austrian quota that has now been introduced."

If Vavricka has his way, more will be done in this area in the coming years. "As we were a little late with player generation and registration this year due to the restructuring of the management, it was not easy to intensify this focus even more," emphasized the young manager. During their presentation in January, Kreibich and Vavricka also indicated that they were interested in signing Radstadt youngster Lukas Neumayer.

After STC won the Bundesliga title in 2017 and also reached the final tournament last season, the goals for the new season are once again high. "We want to reach the Final Four tournament again," outlined Vavricka, who is also keen to work with the players and create a good atmosphere within the team. There is also reason to be happy in the STC's medical department: With Benny Obermüller and Bertram Steinberger, the players will be supported by two physiotherapists.