Maximilian Thatcher celebrates a double victory at the French Open

16-year-old Maximilian Tauschet from Vorarlberg made history at the French Open. The young Hohenms compatriot captured the singles and doubles titles in the junior wheelchair competition, thus celebrating his first Grand Slam victory.

A dramatic final victory in singles

In the singles final, Tuscher met second-seeded Dutchman Ivar van Riet. After an exciting and high-level match, Taouché was able to win the match with scores of 2:6, 6:4 and 10:8 in the tie-break of the match. Despite a difficult start, Tuscher showed tremendous mental strength and worked his way back into the game to eventually win his first Grand Slam title.

“Somehow I can't put it into words,” Tuscher said in an interview with ORF. “For me, the French Open is one of the biggest tournaments because it's great to play there. Sandcourt is my favorite place and my dream has always been to win a Grand Slam in Paris.

Double win with Robin Harris

However, the individual success was just the beginning of a perfect day for the divers. A few hours after his singles victory, he competed in the doubles final with Brett Robin Harris. The duo also proved their superiority here, defeating the duo Yassin Hill (Australia) and Ivar van Rijt (Netherlands) with scores of 7:5 and 6:4. With this victory, Tusher and Harris completed the double and capped off a special day in the tournament.

Historic success

For Tauscher, who was the tournament's top seed, the double win was a special feeling of accomplishment. The French Open is the second Grand Slam tournament to host a junior competition for wheelchair athletes, after the US Open, where Taouché has competed twice.

“With his victory in Paris, Maxi not only won his first Grand Slam title, but also showed once again that he is one of the best young players in the world in wheelchair tennis. This success is a milestone in his young career, which Stefan Schuh says, Head of Inclusion at ÖTV: “More titles will follow in the future.”

Congratulations to Maximilian Tuscher and coach Maximilian Forer on this outstanding success!