The superstar from South Tyrol will thus be playing for the sixth time in the tournament that has become particularly dear to him in recent years.
Initially with wild cards
For his first appearance in Vienna in 2019, Sinner, ranked 119th in the world, still needed a wild card for the main competition, but even then Straka showed his foresight: "It's only a matter of time before Jannik Sinner breaks into the top 100. He will certainly play a decisive role in shaping the future of the ATP Tour," the tournament director said at the time.
Tournament victory in 2023
The following year, the Sesto native still needed a “helping hand” in the form of a wildcard before breaking into the circle of the world's ten best tennis players for the first time in 2021 by reaching the semifinals. After reaching the quarterfinals in 2022, Sinner crowned his fifth and most recent appearance in Vienna in 2023 with a triumph in an epic final against Daniil Medvedev, which the Italian crowd favorite won in a dramatic three-set battle lasting 3 hours and 4 minutes.
At the subsequent award ceremony, after thanking his team in English, Sinner brought the sold-out Wiener Stadthalle to its feet with his unmistakable South Tyrolean accent and the words “Jetzt red ma amoi deitsch” (Now let's speak German). He also emphasized the special significance of the Erste Bank Open for him: “This is a great tournament that helped me with wild cards when I wasn't ranked high enough to get into the field. I've always been well looked after in Vienna. I feel very, very comfortable here, so the tournament will continue to be very important to me in the coming years,” Sinner said two years ago.
Six top ten players
Two and a half weeks before the registration deadline, the starting field already boasts six top ten players: Jannik Sinner (ITA/1), Alexander Zverev (GER/3), Jack Draper (GBR/7), Alex de Minaur (AUS/8), Lorenzo Musetti (ITA/9), and Karen Khachanov (10). In addition, the two Americans Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe, the up-and-coming Italian Flavio Cobolli, the Czech Tomas Machac, Andrey Rublev, and Daniil Medvedev have already confirmed their participation in Vienna.
"Since the Erste Bank Open was upgraded to an ATP 500 tournament in 2015, five top ten players have competed in Vienna three times (2020, 2021, 2023, note). This year, we are well on our way to raising that bar even higher. This is also proof that the players not only recognize the constant development of the tournament, but also appreciate it. In any case, the Viennese audience can once again look forward to a high-quality sporting event with a multitude of exciting matches," Straka is convinced.
