He is winning the hearts of fans at the current Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon! With his triumph at last year's Erste Bank Open, he has also gained many fans in this country. We are talking about Jack Draper of course, who will attempt to successfully defend his title at Austria's tennis highlight from October 18 to 26, 2025. In addition to Draper, three other top stars who have already made it onto the list of winners of the ATP 500 tournament in Vienna will be competing this year: Andrey Rublev (2020), Alexander Zverev (2021), who already committed in April, and Daniil Medvedev (2022).
Jack Draper's meteoric rise really took off with his first ATP tournament victory in June last year at the grass court tournament in Stuttgart! With a 6-4, 7-5 final victory over Karen Khachanov, the Briton won his first 500-level title at the 2024 Erste Bank Open, catapulting him into the top 15 in the world rankings for the first time. Draper reached his next milestone in March this year by winning his first ATP 1000 tournament in Indian Wells. The 23-year-old has now climbed to fourth place in the ATP rankings!
Jack Draper made no secret of the fact that he feels very much at home in Vienna last year: "I really enjoy it here, the city is very beautiful. I like to go for walks and explore the surroundings. Sometimes we play tournaments where there isn't much going on around us – that's very different in Vienna. There are good restaurants and nice coffee houses where you can relax. I really like Vienna and hope to be here more often in the coming years," Draper said last October about his first appearance in Vienna, which he is now following up with a second.
If Draper manages to successfully defend his title, he would be the first player to achieve this feat since the Erste Bank Open was upgraded to a 500 tournament in 2015. For Daniil Medvedev, the goal in Vienna could be to break another “record.” The 2021 US Open champion already has 20 ATP tournament victories to his name, but has yet to win twice at any venue. “I have a lot of positive memories of the tournament. It would be nice to add more this year,” said Medvedev, winner in 2022 and finalist in 2023 in Vienna.
With Alexander Zverev (GER/ATP ranking 3), who already announced his Stadthalle debut in 2025 at a media event in Monte Carlo in April, Jack Draper (ATP-4) and Daniil Medvedev (ATP-9), the preliminary entry list for the Erste Bank Open, with prize money totaling €2,736,875, currently boasts three top ten stars. Andrey Rublev (ATP-14) has also confirmed his participation, meaning that another Vienna winner (2020) will be aiming for his second tournament victory at the Stadthalle next October.
"Jack Draper has not only developed tremendously as an athlete since last summer, but has also risen to become an absolute top star on the ATP Tour. We are therefore delighted that he will be returning to Vienna this year to try to defend his title. The fact that Jack Draper, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, and Andrey Rublev, four tournament winners, are already on this year's entry list is yet another strong indication of the appeal, importance, and popularity of the Erste Bank Open. We are not promising too much when we announce that other top-class players will be joining this quartet," explains tournament director Herwig Straka.
