Salzburg Open

Hoping for a full house and a close title fight

The Sparkasse Salzburg Open kicks off today. Monteiro is one of the favorites to win the tournament.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Everything is set for the official start of the Sparkasse Salzburg Open on Monday. Even the withdrawal of the top-seeded trio at short notice does not dampen the anticipation of the organizers. The favorite to win the ATP 125 Challenger is an Argentinian. 

"More than five hours' sleep per night was not possible," says Günter Schwarzl. Over the past few days, the tournament director has subordinated everything to preparations for the Sparkasse Salzburg Open. Those responsible have spent up to 16 hours a day on this. Everything is ready for the start of the tennis tournament on Monday!

It should go better than on Sunday. Qualifying had to be interrupted for a few hours due to the rain and can only be continued today. In addition, two matches of the main competition are scheduled on Center Court. Speaking of the main competition: the three top seeds Dusan Lajovic, Alexander Shevchenko and Daniel Evans withdrew at short notice. Schwarzl takes it in his stride: "It's a shame, but then we'll concentrate on the Austrians." After all, they are the crowd pullers. 

Tournament director Günter Schwarzl is looking forward to the start.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Tuesday is Austrian day
Local hero Lukas Neumayer, who was already training at the STC grounds yesterday, slipped into the main competition thanks to the world rankings. The two wildcards alongside future hope Joel Schwärzler went to Tyrolean Sandro Kopp and Neil Oberleitner from Vienna. The latter is already starting today in the ATP 125 Challenger with prize money of 148,625 euros. The rest of the red-white-red shooting party, which also includes national champion Filip Misolic, will play tomorrow, Tuesday. 

Filip Misolic gets into the action on Tuesday.(Bild: GEPA)

However, there is a lot of competition in the battle for the tournament title. The favorite for the title is the top-seeded Argentinian Federico Coria, the number 72 in the world. But Thiago Monteiro (Bra), the 2022 winner, will also want to have a say in who wins.

As in previous years, the bosses of the Sparkasse Salzburg Open are hoping for lively spectator interest in the fourth edition of the event. Tickets are still available for all tournament days.