10 Mars 2019

Après deux ans de pause, le Racketlon Night Tour est revenu faire un tour dans le canton de Fribourg le 2 mars dernier. 26 joueurs, dont 11 nouveaux sur le circuit, se sont retrouvés dans l'attrayant centre de tennis de Bulle. Dara Ladner et Patrick Bürgi étaient les deux seuls Suisses-Allemands qui ont osé passé la « barrière de rösti ».

En l'absence des meilleurs joueurs du pays, le tableau masculin était dirigé par Julien Meister. Il s’est fait surprendre dans les matches de groupe en perdant d’un point face à un nouveau venu, joueur de tennis (R1), en la personne de Valentin Wenger. Il a pu tout de même ravir la 3ème place en battant le Genevois Mounir Benheddi en petite finale. Dans le second groupe, Patrick Bürgi a triomphé en souverain. En finale contre Wenger, il savait qu’il devait éviter de jouer le tennis vu le haut niveau de jeu de son adversaire. Malgré trois balles de match manquées au squash, il a pu marquer le dernier point au tennis et remporte ce tournoi.

Chez les femmes, Dara Ladner, qui, à l'instar de Patrick Bürgi, joue pour le RC Uetikon, s'est montrée à la hauteur de son rôle de favorite. Son match le plus difficile était contre la joueuse de badminton Marine Pelet, qui s’est assuré pour sa part la troisième place contre Lyne Dessimoz.

Premier tournoi et premier titre pour Yvan Barbafieri dans la catégorie O45. Le pudium est complété par Jean-Paul Raffy et Eric de la Torre Garcia. En catégorie B, trois joueurs de tennis qui jouaient leur premier Racketlon sont montés sur le podium. La 1ère et la 3ème place pour les Valaisans Jérome Buffet et Julien Buchs. Timo Tänzer d'Auvernier se classe deuxième.

Le prochain tournoi du Night Tour aura lieu le 16 mars au centre Sihlsports de Langnau am Albis. Côté Romand, le prochain tournoi se jouera 13 avril avec l'Open Series à Lausanne.

BL et VH

08 Mars 2019

Some come home with heavier luggage from the IWT La Santa Open some come with less items. Let’s start with the extra weight: Lanzarote is well known for its sunshine at this time of the year. Smart people know that sunshine and outside tennis is great fun but may cause some sweaty and heavier shirts especially if there is a close match in a final!

4 out of the 5 Swiss players went through such a final and the only question was: Who is NOT going to win it? 

It was Esther Dübendorfer’s turn first in the Women Seniors +40. Even though she’s just recovered from an illness she was too strong for the others and the 1st gold medal for Switzerland was secured.

Tanja Omlin took home the second gold medal in an impressive performance in the Women B.  She was never in danger and clearly dominated her category.

Then it was the newcomer’s turn: Daniel Kurmann played himself in a very (let’s call it) unique way through the final of his first ever international Racketlon tournament. By winning his last point and the next gold medal for Switzerland not only he but also the Swiss crowd was relieved.

The last final with Swiss participation was the Women Elite. Nicole Eisler showed a great performance to let it all come down to the last tennis game: Whoever is going to win this dicipline will win the title. In the first half of the game Eisler could play with the support of the wind and everything was still open, but in the 2nd half she was playing against two walls. Izzy Bramhall (UK) AND the wind were just a bit too strong. 

The only „positive“ aspect of this silver medal was that Eisler’s wallet was a bit lighter to bring home afterwards. ;-)

Luckily Eisler won the Women Elite Doubles title just 2 days before with Zuzana Severinova (Czech Republic). So the mean words of her very supportive Swiss mates were not able to affect her happiness. ;-)

Graham King was the only one coming home without a medal this time but he put himself in the book of legends: He’s now famous for tearing the shirt from his chest after an intense match. The advantage of this weekend? He doesn’t have to take home or even wash 2 of his sweaty shirts.

Last but not least the author of this report heard a rumour that there has never been a prouder player than one of this weekend’s Swiss players. He (not she) didn’t even take off his medal from his neck the whole journey back home. Some even heard him speak to his medal...

Daniel Kurmann, Tanja Omlin, Nicole Eisler, Esther Dübendorfer, Graham King

NE