Erste Bank Open Vienna: The hall at Heumarkt is ready - this is where Tsitsipas and Co. serve
Always something new at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. This year, tournament director Herwig Strak had a hall set up on Heumarkt, in which Stefanos Tsitsipas and other stars of the tournament will give the starting shot on Friday.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Oct 19, 2021, 04:12 pm
One week of construction, one week of tournament tennis, one week of dismantling: the active members of the Vienna Ice Skating Club have to be a little patient - because the tennis players have currently taken over the reins at the Heumarkt. And on Friday evening there will be a special kind of show in the new environment right in the city center in Vienna: Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz, Dennis Novak and other stars of the Erste Bank Open will host a tiebreaker tournament from 6 p.m. The perfect introduction to the ATP Tour 500 event.
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Tournament director Herwig Straka and his team have already proven in recent years that Vienna is ready to break new ground: a training hall was built in front of the Wiener Stadthalle, where the main event will of course also take place in 2021 . As an additional opportunity for the professionals to warm up for the matches near the center court.
Athletics has also been outsourced
The decision to go even more downtown with tennis also follows a trend in other sports. The traditional athletics meeting at Zurich's Letzigrund has moved some disciplines to the square in front of the Zurich Opera this year. With great success. At the ATP tournament in Munich, on the other hand, there were a few attempts to set up at least one show court for advertising on the airport grounds. In contrast to the Viennese approach, however, not as an additional competition venue.
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Alex Antonitsch, tournament director of Kitzbühel and, as a Carinthian, also passionate ice hockey player and tennis crack, was impressed by the temporary venue at the first on-site inspection. Antonitsch will accompany the event in Vienna as an expert for the broadcasting station ServusTV, but the idea in Vienna does not necessarily contain suggestions for the summer classic in Gamsstadt: the stadium in Kitzbühel is not far from the town center after all.