ATP: Vienna Blog #1: Greatest and Ecstasy

The Qualifying Sunday of the ATP-500-Tournament in Vienna had a lot to offer – in the daily Wien-Blog we present you impressions from the Vienna Stadthalle around the tournament, the stars and the happenings.

Maximilian Kisanyik reports from the Vienna City Hall

Tomorrow, the spectacle will begin: The Vienna Stadthalle will be a round trip and the Center Court will be dotted with top stars. Of course, the main focus of the premiere day will be on the number one seedling Alexander Zverev. But what can we expect from him against Victor Troicki? Everything, of course.

Despite an unnecessary defeat in Beijing against Juan Martín del Potro, Zverev is playing a magnificent season with terrifyingly mature tennis. But this has been mentioned enough in recent months. The focus will be on his emotions in the game. Troicki can and will be aggressive and is currently in top form. The forehand and backhand run round at the Serbs. So what will it depend on? Zverev must remain calm and focused, constantly from the baseline and not act too timidly – but hesitation is not one of the 20-year-old’s weaknesses anyway. Troicki’s biggest shortcoming – which is also the showpiece discipline of Zverev – is the serve. There the Serb will be vulnerable and Zverev will find his chances. If the shoulder runs round,”Sascha” has little to fear with own service.

Speaking of Zverev: Together with Dominic Thiem, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, the German started a spontaneous doubles match on Vienna’s Stephansplatz. In the middle of the city centre, a net was tightened with a short hand and the fun started. However, this was short-lived because the local police asked the youngsters to relocate their street tennis duel to another location – of course, it doesn’t have to be said that a huge crowd of people had formed around the NextGen stars within a very short time. It was refreshingly different and funny anyway!

And then there was the qualifying finals with a real local rider. Dennis Novak hit the Italian Thomas Fabbiano in the Wiener Stadthalle – and how! The completely filled arena saw a cheerful Novak, who knew how to use his chance to take part in the final of the home tournament. With a contested 6-4,3-6 and 6-3 win, the man from Wiener Neustadt secured a duel with the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.

Generally speaking, the atmosphere around the Center Court is excellent. Playing children on virtual tennis rackets, courageous visitors at the serve machine and the smell of fresh Tyrolean Gröstl’ in the air create a great atmosphere. The paths are short and the “closeness to being there” is exemplified here. Another example of this is that the players move freely here. A Jan-Lennard Struff with a casual gait and button in his ear is just the thing.

And then there are the little secrets – hidden from the public. After the qualifying finals, the top stars then stepped up to work on the Center Court. Sealed off from the crowded eye pairs, Thiem and his buddy “Sascha” trained their game and tried to get used to the hall surface. How did that happen? As I said, in camera. Let’s see, maybe we will get deeper insights into the world of the top stars of the yellow felt ball on the first official round day…

The single panel in Vienna