ATP Vienna: Dominic Thiem to kick off Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Dominic Thiem has scored Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his second home tournament of the year in Vienna as a prelude opponent. The Frenchman was present at the draw in Vienna and drew his own number as an opponent of the top seeded Austrian.
by Lukas Zahrer
last edit: Oct 19, 2019, 12:24 pm
"It will not be easy, I did not expect that, it will be a big challenge," Tsonga said with a smile. In 2013, they met each other once in Vienna. At that time, Tsonga prevailed only in the tiebreak of the third set. "After the match, I said it will be difficult in a couple of years, let's see how it goes," Tsonga said.
The number two of the tournament, Karen Khachanov, must compete against Hubert Hurkacz. Dennis Novak, the second Austrian in the peloton, plays against Gael Monfils. "I usually like watching him, he's an incredible athlete, and in Vienna I'm an outsider against any opponent," Novak said.
Daniil Medvedev, Kei Nishikori and Nick Kyrgios had to cancel their start in Vienna at short notice.
ATP Vienna: Five Austrians in the doubles field
Also the double field has already been drawn. From an Austrian point of view, Oliver Marach and Jürgen Melzer are the biggest hopes, as they meet Denis Shapovalov (CAN) and Rohan Bopanna (IND) in the first round.
Three more Austrians can look forward to a wild card: Sebastian Ofner plays with Tristan-Samuel Weissborn, in the first round a duo from the qualification is waiting. Kitzbühel winner Philipp Oswald also plays with the Australian Marcus Daniell, starting with Belgian Sander Gille / Joran Vliegen.