More than 70,000 fans stormed the Wiener Stadthalle and the #glaubandich Court at Erste Bank Open 2 Go on the premises of the Wiener Eislauf-Verein at the Heumarkt.
World-class line-up
The line-up was also record-breaking with the cut-off for the main draw being number 28 in the world rankings. Thus, already the first round saw blockbuster match-ups like Hubert Hurkacz (POL/ATP 11) against last year’s finalist Frances Tiafoe from the USA.
Great emotions
Dominic Thiem’s comeback made for a mesmerizing atmosphere during his epic first-round battle with American Tommy Paul which ended in one of the most emotional first-round wins in the history of the tournament.
Organizers happy
“A few years ago we could only dream of such an attendance, but now it’s reality. This didn’t come out of the blue. We invested a lot of work to get here. Also, the support from our sponsors and partners was invaluable. By becoming the ATP 500 tournament of the year 2021 we also aroused the interest of important decision makers in tennis. The complete ATP leadership, the director of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid and representatives from the tournament in Basel, which is played during the same week, have come to visit in the past days. It is important, that we also get the recognition in Austria, but in the meantime the Erste Bank Open are being televised in 170 countries. The name of the city of Vienna is going around the world. The positive statements from the players about the good food and the Austrian hospitality are topping off the positive picture of the Erste Bank Open”, tournament director Herwig Straka emphasized.