1,2,3 – in this order the three top seeded players, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov, will intervene in the action in the Wiener Stadthalle!
Alexander Zverev, who is ranked number one, will be making 23. October 2017, the beginning. Thanks to his five season’s victories (Montpellier, Munich, Rome, Washington, Montreal) the 20-year-old German has catapulted himself to fifth place in the world ranking and is also one of the closest favourites in Vienna.
“I’m delighted to be making my main field debut in Vienna this year,” said Zverev, who, like Dominic Thiem, has already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in London next November. On spark7 Next Gen Day, where the smallest tennis fans are back in the picture, Alexander Zverev is also the number one in the ATP’s next-generation ranking.
On Tuesday, Dominic Thiem, the red-white-red tennis hero, will enter his home tournament:”In order for Dominic to get the greatest possible support in his first match, we have made this day THIEMstag once again,”explains tournament director Herwig Straka,”It’s a huge honour and honor that one day at my home tournament is named after me.
At the latest since my match against Thomas Muster in 2011, Tuesday has a special significance for me at the Vienna tournament. I hope, of course, that I will get a perfect start and be able to show my best tennis,”says the current sixth in the world rankings, striving for a good entry into the Viennese tennis classic.
On Wednesday, Grigor Dimitrov, number three in the ATP tournament, which is endowed with 2,621,850 euros, will contest his first round. The Bulgarian World Ranking Eighth has won the tournaments in Brisbane and Sofia this season, as well as his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati last August.
“With Alexander Zverev’s first-round match, the ATP 500 Vienna kicks off with a’ cracker’ match on Monday. On THIEMstag, the Wiener Stadthalle will probably be transformed into a witch’s cauldron for the first time this year. And on Wednesday, the fans can look forward to the first match of Grigor Dimitrov,”Straka comments on the tournament’s starting phase, which has a superstar to offer every day.
The qualification for the ATP 500 in the Wiener Stadthalle, which is endowed with 2,621,850 euros, will start on Saturday with two Austrians. Andreas Haider-Maurer will face fourth seeded Italian player Thomas Fabbiano (ATP rank 75) in the second game after 11:00 a. m. at the Centre Court.
Dennis Novak, who like Haider-Maurer from tournament director Herwig Straka has received a wildcard for the qualification, will not meet Andreas Seppi (ATP-Rank 88) before 5 p. m. with an Italian player. If the two Lower Austrians were to overcome their opening hurdles, there would be a red-white-red duel between Haider-Maurer and Novak on Sunday in the fight for a place in the main field.
The third and last wildcard for the main competition went to Latvian Ernests Gulbis, who reached the semi-finals in the Wiener Stadthalle in 2015.