Dennis Novak will remain the only Austrian in the Erste Bank Open’s main draw. Lucas Miedler lost his qualification final in three sets against American Frances Tiafoe: 7-6 (5), 4-6, 3-6.
Miedler, the clear underdog as the world’s number 311, started out strong, taking the first set in the tiebreak. His concentration waned in the beginning of the second set – enough for Tiafoe to pounce on his chance and break his opponent. Miedler, however, fought back and leveled the game at 4-4 before Tiafoe broke the Austrian’s serve for a second time to seal the set. In the third, Tiafoe’s victory was never in question.
Italian Gianluca Mager also reached the Vienna main draw after beating German Dominik Koepfer 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, as did Vienna 2018 victor Kevin Anderson (three-set-win against Carballes Baena) and Alexei Popyrin (three-set-win against Norbert Gombos).