Tennis world in mourning Ex-rival of Sinner dies in traffic accident at the age of 24
Tobias Tappeiner, a young tennis hopeful from South Tyrol, has died in a traffic accident on the Brenner highway.
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- Tobias Tappeiner, former South Tyrolean tennis star and youth rival of Jannik Sinner, died at the age of 24 in a head-on collision on the Brenner highway.
- The athlete, who was driving on the wrong side of the road near Bolzano South, collided with a family car; the causes of the accident have not yet been clarified.
- Tappeiner was well known in the local tennis scene: He played in the B1 series at TC Bolzano and worked as a coach.
A serious bereavement has hit the South Tyrolean tennis world. Asreported by "stol.it", 24-year-old Tobias Tappeiner died in a car accident on the Brenner highway shortly after 5 a.m. on Sunday morning.
The young man, who used to be a promising tennis player and competed against Jannik Sinner in the junior categories, was driving on the wrong side of the road on the southbound carriageway near Bolzano South. There he collided head-on with a car in which a family was traveling.
The traffic police are investigating to clarify the reasons for this tragic mistake: Tappeiner was familiar with this stretch of road and the reasons for the wrong driving maneuver are currently still unknown. The five people in the other car, two parents and three children, were injured in the accident.
Well-known personality in local tennis
The young man came from San Paolo di Appiano and was a well-known figure in local tennis. He worked as a tennis instructor at the club's own tennis school in Bolzano and played in the B1 league at TC Bolzano.
In his youth, he took part in numerous tournaments with Jannik Sinner, who recently reached the final at Roland Garros. At an U12 tournament in Brixen in 2014, Tappeiner defeated the current number one in doubles 7:6, 6:3.
A photo shared on social media in 2022 shows the two smiling after a match and testifies to a friendship and sporting rivalry that developed on the courts of South Tyrol. "Tobi was always smiling, ironic and helpful," recalls Stefan Laimer, sports director of TC Bolzano.
The editorial team wrote this article with the help of AI.
