ATP: Oliver Marach in a big exclusive interview - "We have had incredible top players in recent years"
In an exclusive conversation with tennisnet.com, the former world number two in doubles, Oliver Marach , estimates the chances in the Davis Cup games against Serbia and Germany as well as the future of Austrian tennis.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit:
Nov 23, 2021, 03:25 pm
Oliver Marach was already in second place in the ATP double world rankings in 2018 and has thus set an Austrian record for the time being. In the same year, the native of Graz also won the Grand Slam at the Australian Open with his partner at the time, Mate Pavic from Croatia. The now 41-year-old competes this week at the Davis Cup final tournament in Innsbruck - unfortunately without spectators - with the Austrian team against the favorite teams from Serbia and Germany. How he sees the chances of the ÖTV team and who could possibly follow in the great double footsteps of Alexander Peya, Jürgen Melzer, Julian Knowle and Marach himself, reveals the professional who now lives with his family in Panama in a detailed conversation with tennisnet.com .
Hello Oliver. The Davis Cup in Innsbruck is just around the corner. How do you rate the chances? With Serbia and Germany, two enormous challenges await the Austrian team.
You have to make it clear that we are clearly outsiders in every game in terms of ranking. But a lot can always happen at the Davis Cup. The first match is always the most important thing, but yes, we are of course happy about every point we score. We'll just do our best and see what's inside. It goes without saying that it doesn’t play our part that no spectators are allowed in the hall, because the fans would certainly have made it even better for us, now we have to rely on the good atmosphere in our team, which is sure to be there will.
How much does Dominic Thiem's failure hurt the team?
Of course it always hurts when you have a top 5 player in the country and he can't play, it's always bitter. Hopefully he'll be ready again for next year. The injury he had is a really bad one. He's just a top star, not just in Austria. He can certainly come back to the top of the world, I am convinced of that.
A little look back to Tokyo: How disappointed was your performance at the Olympic Games when you and Philipp Oswald were eliminated in two sets in the second round against the Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah?
Yes, of course it hurts, because at the Olympic Games only the medals count, everything that comes before doesn't really matter. It was just a shame that we didn't have a few more matches before Tokyo, because we hadn't played together for a long time, Ossi and me. We didn't play badly against the Colombians, but it was an unbelievable level up to 4: 4 in the first set. Then we had a sloppy game and then unfortunately they just played better. If we had had a little more match practice, it might have looked different. In the beginning we were even better, but we couldn't make the break. We had three or four break chances in the first game. But if I had, if I had, it won't do you much good in tennis. We beat 80 percent of the players who are over 40 or 50 in the ranking, but you have to beat the top people. Unfortunately, it cost us a lot to participate in the Olympics: We had to skip Hamburg, and I won Hamburg in 2019. The ATP itself did not know its rules at the time. As for the points, I thought I was only going to lose half the points because I just had 500 points from the win from two years ago inside. But all of a sudden they deducted the entire 500 points and because of that I couldn't play Indian Wells in October either. I was really mad at that. The Ossi also lost points, he still had the Umag victory and the Gstaad final in 2019. The Olympics really hurt us, so to speak, in the ranking.
# IMG2 #
Jürgen Melzer had a very nice farewell to the audience at the Wiener Stadthallen Tournament. Would you also like to say goodbye in front of your home audience?
I am now not a person who has to be in public. And I will definitely not end my career at the Davis Cup. Simply because I don't know what to do afterwards. And in reality it's not up to me whether something like this takes place or not. I think I'm very easy to deal with. Tennis has always been number one in my life with my family. And the older you get, of course, the chances of getting number one get smaller and the thoughts about the family increase. It is important to me that I am there for my children. I don't want to see them just three weeks a year. Everyone in the world has suffered from this pandemic, including us tennis players, and it just doesn't pay off anymore if you don't see your family and do the sport without looking out. Tennis is a beautiful sport, you have a lot of freedom, but on the other hand you also have to take a lot. I've been on the tour for 24 years now, I'm 41 years old, which makes me one of the oldest players. You just think differently than most of the younger players. It is gratifying that I now have a cushion from the "ATP player pension", I was successful enough that from 49 I have a small insurance from one pot.
Austria has been blessed with excellent doubles for the last twenty years, perhaps almost too spoiled. How do you see the future in domestic tennis?
We have had incredible top players in the last few years - in doubles and singles - Austria is a small nation, you just have to take note of that. We really had a lot of top 100 players for that: Alexander Peya, Julian Knowle, Gerald and Jürgen Melzer, Werner Eschauer, Stefan Koubek, Markus Hipfl, Daniel Köllerer, Andreas Haider-Maurer, Dominic Thiem and also Dennis Novak. In doubles, many were even in the top 10, we had Grand Slam winners. You have to say that what happened there is amazing. Now it is extremely important that Dominic catches up again, which is of course not easy when you have such a long break. But I am absolutely convinced that he can do it. He's a huge talent, a real exceptional player. He can beat anyone when he's at his best. The most important thing is that it remains injury-free. With the strokes he's had, it's only a matter of time before he comes back. Then of course we also have Dennis, who is also a huge talent and can play really well. It's around 100 now, but I think it has at least top 50 potential. There is still a little lack of consistency. Jurij Rodionov had a somewhat mixed year, one has to say, but is now around 160 anyway. Gerald has played really well the last few months, which I find really sensational after being gone for so long - really great. Yes, and Sebastian Ofner just had an injury and had to have an operation at the beginning of October. Unfortunately, I don't know the other boys, I'm not in Austria, I'm too far away. But Jürgen is now the sports director and he can bring all of his professional tennis expertise to bear there, making him a top man for the job.
# IMG3 #
And who will inherit you, Julian, Alex and Jürgen in doubles, or will Philipp Oswald be at your side in the future?
I have now played against Lucas Miedler and Alexander Erler in Vienna and I found them both really good, they are really strong doubles, they should definitely keep playing, maybe they'll make a leap forward. Of course it's a long way to go, but I think they're in a good mood. They have already had good results this year, they just have to keep going. You honestly surprised me in a really positive way. I saw Erler play for the first time in Vienna, and of course I know Miedler. It might not be bad if they get a double coach and bring a little more tactics into the game, get a little more understanding of the positions, then a lot will develop further.