The picturesque Austrian ski resort of Seefeld was once again host to one of the world’s biggest senior tennis events, as 629 players gathered from all over the world for the 36th edition of the European International Championships.
With 21 age categories to be played on the indoor courts, the Championships were once again split between the Seniors and the Super-Seniors, who took centre-stage during the first week, and saw some record-breaking performances from some of the game’s most renowned senior players.
There were home victories for two Austrians in the men’s singles. Top seed Hans-Dietrich Heissel won the Men’s 65s event, coming from behind to outlast Kasper Rud of Denmark 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the final. Peter Pokorny had an easier ride, conceding just twelve games in five matches on his way to defending his Men’s 70s crown. The win was his 23rd title in Seefeld throughout a long and distinguished seniors’ career, and an incredible 34th European title overall.
The Men’s 75s title went to Germany’s Gerhard Coldeway who made up for his final loss last year to beat compatriot Silvio Linzbauer 6-3 6-3. Ewald Przewloka beat Sweden’s Sven Pewe to keep the Men’s 80s title in German hands, while Michael Novik of Russia beat defending champion Angelo Sala (ITA) for the Men’s 85s title.
The Women’s 60s event went to Heidi Eisterlehner of Germany, who had to fight hard for her 11th title in Seefeld, recovering from the loss of the second set to beat Heleen Janssen-Prins (NED) 6-1 6-7 6-1. Eisterlehner also teamed up with Heide Orth for the doubles crown, while Orth was pipped to the Women’s 65s title by Ellie Krocke of the Netherlands.
Britain’s Jacqueline Boothman won the Women’s 70s title with a 6-1 6-1 win over wild card Mary de Man O’Wel (NED), while Women’s 75s Player of the Year Brigitte Jung outlasted compatriot Ilse Michael over three sets to regain the 75s title. Having accepted a wild card into the tournament, Magdalena Jauch (GER) went on to defend the Women’s 80s crown with a win over top seed Erzsebet Szentirmay (HUN).
The second week of action in Seefeld saw the younger age groups swing into action. Top seed Daniel Dolbea (GER) won the Men’s 35s title when Austria’s Clemens Weinhandl was forced to default from their final match. 2010 champion Jorgen Aberg of Sweden regained his Men’s 40s crown after a long battle win top seed Dinko Gudelj (CRO), 6-3 3-6 7-5.
Italian players had unprecedented success in Seefeld; Marco Zanola beat Franco Radogna in an all-Italian Men’s 45s final, while Fernando Cavalleri won the Men’s 50s over Per-Anders Lindeborg (SWE). Alan Rasmussen of Denmark ended hopes of what had looked like being a third Italian title, when Ferrante Rocchi Lanoir retired whilst trailing their Men’s 55s final 6-4 0-6 0-4. Arguably the most competitive of all the draws was the heavily-subscribed Men’s 60s event, which produced an all-German final, with unseeded Lubomir Petrov beating Alfred Boeckl in three sets.
The Women’s 40s went to Helena Vildova (CZE) over Gabi Kirchner (GER). Vildova beat top seed Lesley O’Halloran en route to the final, while Kirchner had despatched defending champion Nathalia Harina-Beckmann.
Top seed Ingrid Gutmann-Resch (AUT) defended her Women’s 50s title in emphatic style, recording a 6-0 6-0 win over unseeded Katalin Boereocz (HUN), while 2011 Player of the Year Renata Tomanova beat German compatriot Heide Orth for the Women’s 55s crown, for which Orth dropped two age categories. Orth holds more European Indoor titles than any other player with a total of 20, but will now have to wait another year to see if she can extend that figure.
Full draws and results can be found on the ITF website here. Click here to visit our photo gallery (to be updated with more images soon).