Zverev meets #NextGenATP Schwaerzler in Vienna opener, retiring Thiem plays Darderi
p The a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/vienna/337/overview'Erste Bank Open/a draw has thrown up a host of intriguing storylines as top names arrive in Vienna for the indoor hard-court ATP 500. /p
p a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alexander-zverev/z355/overview'Alexander Zverev/a, the 2021 champion and this yearrsquo;s top seed, will be unlikely to count on the support of local fans for his first-round clash at the Wiener Stadthalle, where he will take on #NextGenATP home favourite a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/joel-schwaerzler/s0wt/overview'Joel Schwaerzler/a. It will be a maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash between World No. 2 Zverev and the 18-year-old Schwaerzler, whose only previous tour-level match came in Kitzbuehel earlier this year. /p
p Alongside Schwaerzler, there is another Austrian in the top half of the Vienna draw. Former World No. 3 and 17-time tour-level champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/dominic-thiem/tb69/overview'Dominic Thiem/a is competing as a wild card in the final event of his pro career. The 31-year-old will take on a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/luciano-darderi/d0fj/overview'Luciano Darderi/a in the first round, with the winner set to meet seventh seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jack-draper/d0co/overview'Jack Draper/a or wild card a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/kei-nishikori/n552/overview'Kei Nishikori/a. /p
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p Third seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/grigor-dimitrov/d875/overview'Grigor Dimitrov/a, who will contest his semi-final against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tallon-griekspoor/gj37/overview'Tallon Griekspoor/a in Stockholm on Saturday evening, begins his Vienna campaign against a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/players/zhizhen-zhang/z371/overview" target="_blank"Zhang Zhizhen/a. The Bulgarian will know that a deep run in the Austrian capital could be key if he wants to make a late surge towards a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a qualification. /p
p Dimitrov is currently 10th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, one spot behind the second seed in Vienna, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alex-de-minaur/dh58/overview'Alex de Minaur/a. After reaching the Antwerp quarter-finals this week, De Minaur will aim to make a fast start in his opening match against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jan-lennard-struff/sl28/overview'Jan-Lennard Struff/a in Vienna. His fellow Australian a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alexei-popyrin/p09z/overview'Alexei Popyrin/a, the eighth seed, is a potential quarter-final opponent for De Minaur. /p
p Another member of the chasing pack in the Live Race, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tommy-paul/pl56/overview'Tommy Paul/a, will play a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/brandon-nakashima/n0ae/overview'Brandon Nakashima/a in an all-American first-round clash. Paulrsquo;s potential quarter-final opponents in the Austrian capital include a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/matteo-berrettini/bk40/overview'Matteo Berrettini/a, who opens against a qualifier, and fifth seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/frances-tiafoe/td51/overview'Frances Tiafoe/a, who starts against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/cameron-norrie/n771/overview'Cameron Norrie/a. /p
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pstrongTurin Hopefuls Rublev, Ruud, Tsitsipas Learn Basel Draw/strongbr /
The a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/basel/328/overview'Swiss Indoors Basel/a will further fuel the Live Race as top players aim for a late-season push to boost their qualification chances./p
pTop seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/andrey-rublev/re44/overview'Andrey Rublev/a is set for his debut in Basel. Currently eighth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, Rublev will open his campaign against Portugalrsquo;s a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/nuno-borges/bt72/overview'Nuno Borges/a. It will be the pairrsquo;s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash. A possible quarter-final clash with sixth seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/ben-shelton/s0s1/overview'Ben Shelton/a is on the cards for Rublev./p
pOne spot ahead of Rublev in the Live Race is a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/casper-ruud/rh16/overview'Casper Ruud/a, who will face a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roberto-bautista-agut/bd06/overview'Roberto Bautista Agut/a in his opening match. The second seed will aim to make a deep run at the tournament after losing to local hope a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/dominic-stricker/s0la/overview'Dominic Stricker/a last year. Strickerrsquo;s countryman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/stan-wawrinka/w367/overview'Stan Wawrinka/a is set to open his campaign against a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/adrian-mannarino/me82/overview'Adrian Mannarino/a. /p
pAnother a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a qualification contender, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/stefanos-tsitsipas/te51/overview'Stefanos Tsitsipas/a, will make his first appearance in Basel since losing to a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roger-federer/f324/overview'Roger Federer/a in the 2019 semi-finals. Currently 11th in the Live Race, the third seed will also hope to close the gap. #NextGenATP star a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/arthur-fils/f0f1/overview'Arthur Fils/a, who sits atop the PIF ATP Live Race to Jeddah, is a potential quarter-final opponent for the Greek./p
pTwo-time defending champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/felix-auger-aliassime/ag37/overview'Felix Auger-Aliassime/a will also return to Basel and is seeded to face second seed Ruud in the quarter-finals./p
p [NEWSLETTER FORM] /p