ATP Challenger Tulln: Jaume Munar leads the field
When an event of the ATP Challenger Tour takes place from September 4th to 11th on the traditional facility of the TC Tulln with the premiere of the Lower Austrian Open powered by EVN, tennis fans can look forward to a top-class starting field.
by PM
last edit: Aug 22, 2021, 08:10 am
As things stand at present, no fewer than six title holders of the “big” ATP tour have registered for the comeback of top international tennis on the sand of Lower Austria! 16 years after the last edition of the classic tournament in St. Pölten, young climbers match each other in Tulln with experienced players who have never stopped playing for a whopping 100 world ranking points for the winner and a total of 101,798 euros in prize money.
A good friend
The list is headed by the 24-year-old Spaniard Jaume Munar (nickname "Jimbo"). The right-hander is currently ranked 68th in the world. For organizer Ronnie Leitgeband tournament director Florian Leitgeb is a 1.83 m tall Mallorcan from the Rafael Nadal Academy a very good friend. Last spring, Munar reached the final in Marbella, Spain, at both the ATP 250 tournament and the Challenger there - both organized by Leitgeb's agency Champ Events .
The evergreen
Another “Big Name” will be welcomed in Tulln by Germany's high-class veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber. With eight ATP titles, including Kitzbühel in 2015 and 2017, and a world ranking high of 16th place (July 2012), the 37-year-old from Kitzbühel by choice remains a constant in the international tennis circuit. Only recently, at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, “Kohli” pushed the Greek superstar Stefanos Tsitsipas to the limit in a dramatic three-movement game.
The Djokovic conqueror
Number 2 of the Lower Austrian Open powered by EVN comes from Italy and has been a household name to local tennis experts since 2018 at the latest. At that time, Marco Cecchinato overpowered Pablo Carreno Busta and David Goffin as well as the great Novak Djokovic on his way to the semi-finals of Roland Garros . Only in the later finalist, Dominic Thiem from Lower Austria, did the now 28-year-old from Brescia find his master. The three-time ATP winner “Ceck” is currently lurking in 82nd place in the ranking.
Full ÖTV power
In addition to numerous other top players from all over the world, Dennis Novak(ATP No. 127) and Sebastian Ofner (No. 167) also two Austrians fix in the main competition. And the local hero from Tulln and newly crowned double champion from Kitzbühel, Lucas Miedler, will also be seen in action in his hometown.
However, ÖTV sports director Jürgen Melzer does not want to announce until shortly before the start of the tournament who will benefit from the wild cards to be awarded by the Austrian Tennis Association. Of course, he already has some candidates on his radar: "But in the end I would like to wait and see how things will work in the upcoming future tournaments."
Speaking of Jürgen Melzer: On May 16, 2005, it was the German-Wagramer who played the last tennis match at ATP level in Lower Austria in the St. Pölten final, which was just lost to Russian Nikolai Dawydenko. Now he is pleased about this return to his home state: “It's great that Lower Austria is back on the international tennis map! The starting field in Tulln is incredibly strong and the tournament is the perfect stage for our players to present themselves in front of a home crowd! "