Young prospect Lukas Neumayer spoke to VAVEL on his experiences at the Challenger level, his favourite tournament, and his goals for the future.
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On the Challenger tour
Neumayer, 21, is ranked 228th in the world and has already reached two finals, despite only making the step up to the Challenger tour earlier this year.
Despite coming up short on both occasions, Neumayer has only taken positives from the experience.
"I think it was more that I reached the final, and not lost the final.
"It was a huge step in my young career.
"Next time, when I'm in a final, I hope that I can win it," said the Austrian.
Neumayer reached the final of the Cordenons Challenger in Italy earlier this year, and despite knocking out three Italians on route to the final, managed to keep the fans on side.
"The crowd was obviously for the Italian players.
"But they were really nice, especially in the semi-finals when I played against Riccardo Bonadio, because I think he was born in the city, Cordenons.
"The people were really nice, and were cheering after good points for me, I appreciated it a lot," said the young star.
The fans were certainly cheering on the 21-year-old in Salzburg earlier this year for Neumayer's home tournament, where he reached his second Challenger final.
"My biggest highlight was Salzburg this year, because I was born in Salzburg and everyone from my family and friends were there.
"It was really nice to celebrate my biggest victory so far in my hometown," said Neumayer.
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On his favourite tournaments
Unlike some players on the Challenger tour, the young Austrian has chosen not to venture outside of Europe this season.
"I think the best players are playing in Europe.
"In my opinion it's always good to compete with the best players.
"It's also nice to travel by car to the Challenger tournaments in the middle of summer, that's the biggest reason why I play in Europe," said the 21-year-old.
Neumayer's European schedule allows him to play some of his favourite events.
"I love all of the Italian Challengers.
"I love them, the food, and the old culture.
"The cities are so nice," said the youngster.
His favourite tournament however, is much closer to home.
"It's Kitzbuhel.
"I went there nearly every year when I was younger and watched all the good players there.
"I've played there three times now and I've really enjoyed it.
"If I could win it one day that would be really nice," said Neumayer.
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On the best player he's faced
Coming through the ranks on the ITF and Challenger tour, Neumayer has come up against a number of young talented players, but one stood out to him more than others.
"One month ago, in Kitzbuhel I played Hamad Medjedovic.
"I was not surprised that he played good, but he played really good with his big serve.
"I think that Hamad can make it far," said the Austrian.
Medjedovic, 20, has been supported by fellow Serb, Novak Djokovic throughout his career and is considered as one of the top prospects of this generation.
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On his goals for the future
Neumayer is currently 228th in the world, but is keen to rise further up the rankings.
"The biggest goal before the season was top 200, so that is still a big goal.
"But the second big goal is to make Australia," said the 21-year-old.
The youngster has identified the areas in his game that he'll have to improve upon if he wants to achieve his targets.
"I think the biggest point I have to make better is the serve.
"Then of course, I need to make the groundstrokes a little bit faster," said Neumayer.
The Austrian has very few points to defend for the rest of the year, which may help improve his ranking.
"It's nice to play free where you don't have a lot of pressure.
"I will try to play a lot of the tournaments the rest of the year, so hopefully I can make it to the top 200," said the young prospect.