Senior Tennis

European Senior Championships in Antalya

European Senior Championships in Antalya

The fifth edition of the European Seniors Championships took place recently at the Ali Bey Resort Sorgun in Antalya, Turkey, where the tournament was hosted by the Turkish Tennis Federation and organised by Patricio Travel.

Almost 200 players took part in the tournament, including five of the ITF Senior Circuit’s current world #1s and many other Top Ten players. Many of the defending champions managed to retain their titles, with a total of nine repeat winners returning to stand at the highest spot on the podium.

The men’s events saw particularly strong performances from the Senior Tour’s most established players, with an incredible eight of ten titles being successfully defended by their reigning champions from 2015.

Of the new winners, Germany’s Marc Brill claimed the Men’s 35 title on his debut in the competition, dominating his round robin group with four wins. A more familiar name is Men’s 60 champion Harald Hellmonseder, who never dropped a set in claiming his first European Senior Championships win, having fallen at the final hurdle in 2013 and 2015.

The repeat winners were plentisome; Men’s 40 top seed Gerhard Fahlke won his third title in a row with a 6-1 6-2 win over Benoit Coppens of Belgium. Germany compatriot and world #2 Alexander Windisch held on to his Men’s 45 title with a 6-2 6-2 victory of Macedonian wild card Zoran Shevchenko.

A pair of Austrian world #1s won the next categories, as Manfred Hundstorfer repeated the result of last year’s final to beat world #2 Christian Greuter (GER) 6-0 75 for the Men’s 50 and Karl Pansy beat second seed Florian Ebner (GER) 6-0 7-5 for the Men’s 55 title.

Familiar names also reigned in the super-seniors categories: France’s Bruno Renoult held onto his title despite stiff opposition from Germany’s Peter Marklsdorfer, who extended the world #1 to a third set before capitulating.

Peter Adrigan also defended his Men’s 70 title, benefiting from a walkover from opponent Johannes Muehlenburg of Austria in the final. Peter Pokorny of Austria then extended his lead as the player with most European titles by defending the Men’s 75 title that we won on his debut in the age group last year, running off to a 6-1 6-4 win over Hans Koller of Germany. In the most senior event, Henri Crutchet of France s retained his Men’s 80s title, topping his round-robin group over Herbert Althaus.

The women’s singles events proved to be somewhat less predictable, with just one player – Lithuania’s Jurate Hardy – managing to defend her title from last year, the Women’s 45 championship.

There was no shortage of big names from the ITF Senior Circuit in contention though. The Women’s 35 event saw a battle between two Top Five players as second seed Svenja Weidemann upset top seeded German compatriot and world #3 Stefanie Kolar for the loss of just one game.

The Women’s 50 event saw top seed Liselot Prechtel of the Netherlands in dominant form, dropping just five games in three matches, including a 6-0 6-0 win over Poland’s Malgorzata Andrzejczuk in the final.

Spanish world #2 Encarnacion Gomis Ruiz has been a prolific Senior Circuit winner in recent years and kept up her good running, winning the Women’s 60 round-robin event.

The Women’s 65 saw Susanne Schweda score an impressive win over world #1 Heidi Eisterlehner before following up with victory over another German compatriot, Sylvia Balkow to seal the title.

Germans also dominated the remaining categories, with current world #1 Sylvia Bauwens fighting back from a set down to claim the Women’s 70 title over Barbara con Ende (5-7 6-3 6-2), and Ingrid Kaminski outperforming Renate Grund to top the Women’s 75 round-robin group.  

The European Championships is a Grade B1 event on the ITF Seniors Circuit and offers 240 ranking points to the winners, making the event the biggest in Europe in terms of points available. A full list of results and winners can be found below:

Photo Gallery 

Men's Singles

M35 (RR) – 1. Marc Brill (GER) 2. Eric Lindroos (SWE)

M40 – (1) Gerhard Fahlke (GER) d. Benoit Coppens (BEL) 6-1 6-2

M45 – (1) Alexander Windisch (GER) d. (WC) Zoran Shevchenko (MKD) 6-2 6-2

M50 – (1) Manfred Hundstorfer (AUT) d. (2) Christian Greuter (GER) 6-0 7-5

M55 – (1) Karl Pansy (AUT) d. (2) Florian Ebner (GER) 6-0 6-4

M60 – (2) Harald Hellmonseder (AUT) d. Jaroslav Kratochvil (CZE) 6-4 6-2

M65 – (1) Bruno Renoult (FRA) d. (2) Peter Marklsdorfer (GER) 6-2 3-6 6-1

M70 – (1) Peter Adrigan (GER) d. Johannes Muehlenburg (AUT) w/o

M75 – (1) Peter Pokorny (AUT) d. (3) Hans Koller (GER) 6-1 6-4

M80 (RR) – (1) Henri Crutchet (FRA)

Women's Singles

W35 – (2) Svenja Weidemann (GER) d. (1) Stefanie Kolar (GER) 6-1 6-0

W45 – (2) Jurate Hardy (LTU) d. (1) Lucie Scwab (AUT) 6-1 6-2

W50 – (1) Liselot Prechtel (NED) d. Malgorzata Andrzejczuk (POL) 6-0 6-0

W60 – 1. Encarnación Gomis Ruiz (ESP), 2. Christiane Deryckere (BEL)

W65 – Susanne Schweda (GER) d. Sylvia Balkow (GER) 6-3 6-3

W70 – (1) Sylvia Bauwens (GER) d. (2) Barbara von Ende (GER) 5-7 6-3 6-2

W75 (RR) – 1. Ingrid Kaminski (GER)

Men's Doubles

M35 (RR) – 1. Lindroos (SWE)/Malkov (RUS), 2. Henkel/Kraft (GER)

M40 (RR) – 1. Coppens (BEL)/Fahlke (GER), 2.  Bloemeke/Mueller-Frerich (GER)

M45 – (2) Donescu/Petrescu (ROU) d. (1) Pipos/Pop (ROU) 6-2 6-2

M50 (RR) – 1. Effraimoglou (GRE)/Greuter (GER), 2. Stefan Heckmanns (GER)

M55 – Berner (FIN)/Ebner (GER) d. (2) Koepf/Pansy (AUT)

M60 (RR) – 1. Khokhrin/Nazarenko (UKR), 2. Josef Baumgartner (GER)

M65 – (1) Adrigan/Dahmen (GER) d. Boeckl/Van de Loo (GER) w/o

M70 – (1) Mihalache (ROU)/Pokorny (AUT) d. (2) Moertl (SUI)/Muehlenburg (AUT) 6-4 4-6 10-7

M75 (RR) – 1. Althaus/Brandt (GER), 2. Koller/Schlereth (GER)

Women's Doubles

W35 (RR) – 1. Kolar/Weidemann (GER), 2. Ilves (EST), Parmas (FIN)

W50 (RR) – 1. Deryckere (BEL)/Froeysok (GER), 2. Arck/Nothnagel (GER)

W65 (RR) – 1. Balkow/Oehlsen (GER), 2. Andree/Von Ende (GER)

Mixed Doubles

X35 –Weidemann/Gimbel (GER) d. (1) Ilves/Ratsep (ESP) 6-3 6-0

X45 – (2) Parmas/Salminen (FIN) d. Hardy (LTU)/Panakas (GRE) 4-6 6-4 [11-9]

X50 – (RR) 1. Hundstorfer (AUT)/Prechtel (NED), 2. Reiderer/Martinz (AUT)

X60 – (RR) Friemel/Schweda (GER), 2. Khorkhin (UKR)/Rusanova (BLR)

X65 – (1) Eisterlehner (GER)/Renoult (FRA) d. Froeysok (GER)/Ritter (AUT) 6-0 6-1

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