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Austrian Open 2022

The Austrian Open 2022 took place between 5 and 9 July in Salzburg Austria. I was seeded No. 1 in this tournament and played my first round on Wednesday afternoon against Englishman Perry Malik. After some difficulties with the court and my tactics, I managed to come back into the match after trailing two to one and won the match 3/2. The following day, I had to play my Swiss colleague Robin Gadola for a spot in the semi-finals, just like last year. After two tight sets, which I could not win, I found my way into the match and could change some things, which helped me to turn the match around and finally win 3/2. My semi-final opponent was the local hero Aqeel Rehman, who was also the tournament organizer at the same time. I was well in the match from the beginning and could build up a 2/0 lead. However, my opponent played good squash in the third set and I slowly ran out of energy, so I lost this set. Also in the fourth set, it looked as if I would lose it. I was down 10/6 and was close to going into the fifth set. But I managed to use some more energy to catch up and finally win the set 13/11.

So, I was in the final of the Austrian Open for the second year in a row. My opponent in the final was the unseeded James Peach, who had beaten the second seeded German in the semi-finals. The match started well for me and I won the first set. But Peach turned up the heat and put me under pressure with his shots, which allowed him to win the next two sets. The fourth set was probably the most competitive set of the match, but I managed to win it at the end and we went into the decisive fifth set. The beginning of the fifth set was very even and both had good shots. But from half of the set on, Peach played the better shots than me and finally won the match 3/2. It was a pity that I could not win the tournament, but I learned something new.



The next tournament, the World Games, starts for me next Wednesday in Birmingham, Alabama.


Pictures by: Jasminwalterphoto





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