With the the 500-point event in Basel cancelled and no longer sharing this week on the schedule, plus players being eager for more tennis at the end of a season that was cut in half, the 2020 Erste Bank Open in Vienna has become one of the best 500-pointers ever.
The field includes Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Diego Schwartzman, Gael Monfils, and Denis Shapovalov as the eight seeds. Among the unseeded contingent are Stan Wawrinka, Karen Khachanov, Grigor Dimtrov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Minaur, Pablo Carreno Busta, Kei Nishikori, and Jannik Sinner.
Djokovic is in action for the first time since finishing runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the French Open and will kick off his campaign in an all-Serb affair with Filip Krajinovic. The world No. 1 would then meet either Borna Coric or Taylor Fritz in round two before potentially running into current Cologne finalist Diego Schwartzman.
Tsitsipas, who lost to Djokovic at Roland Garros in a five-set semifinal, also headlines the top of the Vienna bracket. The draw is difficult for just about everyone, and the fifth-ranked Greek is no exception. He opens against Jan-Lennard Struff before possibly facing Dimitrov or Khachanov in round two and Shapovalov in the quarterfinals.
The bottom quarter is highlighted by three players in stellar form. Thiem won the U.S. Open and is the defending champion in Vienna, where he is obviously the fan favorite as well. Rublev is tied with Djokovic for the 2020 lead with four ATP titles. Sinner made a run to the Roland Garros quarters and is coming off a semifinal showing in Cologne. Rublev is on a collision course with Sinner for round two and Thiem in the last eight.
First-round matches to watch include Coric vs. Fritz, Tsitsipas vs. Struff, Dimitrov vs. Khachanov, Monfils vs. Carreno Busta, Medvedev vs. de Minaur, and Thiem vs. Nishikori.
Picks
Quarterfinals: Djokovic over Schwartzman, Tsitsipas over Evans, Carreno Busta over Medvedev, and Rublev over Thiem
Semifinals: Djokovic over Tsitsipas and Rublev over Carreno Busta
Final: Djokovic over Rublev
WWW?
this Tournament in Vienna looks like the round of 32 at The US Open….incredible field….will be fun to watch on tv.
how about a Tsitsi vs Thiem final, which would be a repeat of last year’s clash at the ATP finals in the O2 arena.