Youth is being pushed

Tennis crisis in Carinthia! No Koubek heir in sight

Patrick Ofner from Klagenfurt has decided against a professional career.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

There is a permanent tennis crisis in Carinthia! Since Stefan Koubek, who was ranked 20th in the world in 2000, there has been a yawning void. Only two stragglers can be found in the world rankings. The new board of the Carinthian Tennis Association is pushing youth work. . .

Austria is looking for Dominic Thiem's successor! This will probably not come from Carinthia in the near future. Because since Stefan Koubek - the 47-year-old was ranked 20th in the ATP rankings in 2000 - there has been an almost yawning void.

Stefan Koubek was the last Carinthian to be at the top of the ATP rankings.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

"Nobody is pushing themselves in Carinthia"
Klagenfurt's evergreen Patrick Ofner (reached the quarter-finals at the state championships in Bad Waltersdorf on Wednesday) had ambitions as a junior. He even faced Thiem at the "Orange Bowl" in 2011 and clearly lost. "I lacked that certain something compared to the top players - that's why I decided against a professional career," says Ofner, who also says: "It's not the job of an association to bring out a talent internationally, you need your own initiative - there's no one in Carinthia at the moment."

The 16-year-old East Tyrolean Lilli Tagger showed that things are looking bleak in Carinthia.

(Bild: zVg)

Only one Carinthian at the national championships
Only Tobias Smoliner from Villach (ranked 1689) and Jonas Trinker from Pörtschach (1105) appear in the ATP rankings. While a star has risen in East Tyrol this year with Lilli Tagger (in the top 1000 at the age of 16!), things look bleak in Carinthia. Elena Karner already dropped out last year. Only Nina Plihal was represented at the state championships - but she was eliminated directly in the round of 16 on Wednesday.

Youth is being pushed
Stefan Koubek moved from Carinthia to Südstadt at the age of 15: "You can prove yourself anywhere until you're 14, then you have to make the jump to an academy where you have good competition - otherwise it will be difficult!" Last summer, he took part in an initiative by the Carinthian association to promote youth. "We start with the kids from U8 upwards - you won't see the results for a few years," emphasizes Martin Thaler, who has been Vice President of the new KTV board for a year now. In recent years, a lot has been neglected in youth work, and now the aim is to get things moving again. Thaler: "Unfortunately, we don't have the money to realize major projects. But we want clubs, coaches and players to work together more - we are offering more squad training sessions in winter."