Tournament director Herwig Straka gave out two of three available wildcards for the Erste Bank Open main draw to Austrian local heroes Filip Misolic and Jurij Rodionov.
“Rodionov has shown rising form in the past weeks. We all want him to continue that in the Stadthalle”, Straka justified the wildcard for the 23-year-old Rodionov, who only lately reached the semif-finals of the Challenger in Saint Tropez and won the Challenger tournaments in Biel and Mauthausen earlier in the year.
21-year-old Misolic sensationally won the Challenger in Zagreb this year as a qualifier and reached the final of the ATP tournament in Kitzbühel. Straka also has high hopes for the home crowd: “During his run in Kitzbühel, Filip Misolic not only showed his great talent, but also what an enthusiastic crowd can do for a player. We hope that the home advantage will also be there at the Stadthalle.”
On Friday, Dennis Novak (also Austria) received the third and final wildcard for the main draw.
One of two doubles wildcards was also already given out to the Austrian-Dutch pairing Philipp Oswald/Robin Hase.