A lot of self-confidence

Misolic: “There’s no reason to be disappointed”

Filip Misolic was certainly able to surprise in Paris.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Filip Misolic can leave Paris with his head held high despite his second-round exit at the French Open. Last week, the 22-year-old Styrian qualified for a major tennis event for the first time ever with three victories and then won the premiere with a great first round victory.

Misolic turned around a 0:2 set deficit against Otto Virtanen (FIN) to win. Francisco Cerundolo (ARG-23) was then a size too big on Thursday.

2:6,6:7(2),0:6 was the score after 2:04 hours, but Misolic was not downhearted in the end. "I felt good at the beginning, then unfortunately there was a rain interruption," Misolic recalled. He then failed to take a game in the first set from a 2:1 lead. "I knew that I had to play aggressively against him, otherwise you don't stand a chance against such players. I played great in the second set, made the break to 4:2, was 30:0 up, then unfortunately the re-break came." Misolic saved himself in the "jeu decisif", in which he had no chance. After the tie-break, the match was a one-way street for the South American.

But no reason for Misolic to mope. "I'm proud of myself. It's been a great two weeks," said the 2022 Kitzbühel finalist, who had already climbed to 126th place in the ATP rankings (April 2023) and is now back in the top 200 at 184th place.

Wimbledon as an option?
He can certainly put the prize money of 110,000 euros to good use. "I'll try to invest it in myself as much as possible. So that I can get there like a Cerundolo, for example. There's a lot of work to do," admitted Misolic. Matches against such players would also show him what he needs to work on.

In general, Misolic has noticed an upward trend since the Mauthausen Challenger, where he reached the quarter-finals. "I've been playing better and better since then." It is still unclear whether he will continue to improve his form on clay or switch to grass. "I'm still not sure about qualifying for Wimbledon. It depends on whether I switch to grass or continue playing on clay."

But now Misolic wants to take a deep breath and be happy about what she has achieved. "There's no reason to be disappointed. Playing in a Grand Slam (main event) for the first time is a great achievement, especially coming back from 0:2 (in sets) in the first match."