Erste Bank Open 2022: Herwig Straka hopes for Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
Tournament director Herwig Straka hopes to guide Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic to the Erste Bank Open in Vienna with a wild card.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Oct 01, 2022, 08:30 pm
The field of participants in the Erste Bank Open is excellent again this year: with Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Cameron Norrie, Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner, five players from the current top ten in the world rankings will be playing in Vienna. And tournament director Herwig Straka is optimistic about adding another prominent name to this list.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are currently not planning a tournament appearance in the week of Vienna (October 24th to 30th), but Straka is still hoping for a rethink at least with one of the two tennis legends. "We talk to both of them all year round," the Styrian explained to APA on Friday.
Djokovic reaches top 20 placement
Djokovic, who is serving in Tel Aviv these days and will be starting at the ATP 500 tournament in Astana next week, is currently only 15th in the Race to Turin. In view of his triumph in Wimbledon, the Serb only has to go below finish in the top 20 to qualify for the year-end finals of the top eight players.
"With Djokovic you can see that he plays a lot. We haven't had any contact yet and spoke in the summer. The hope is already there," explained Straka. Nadal's participation seems a little more unrealistic due to the imminent birth of his first child: "If so, then something will be decided at very short notice."
Also read:Erste Bank Open 2022: Dominic Thiem - "The direction is right"