TULLN/STARNBERG, August 21, 2024
Among the 21 ATP professionals currently confirmed for the main draw of the NÖ Open powered by EVN 2024, there are no fewer than 12 ATP Challenger titleholders. As it stands, this year’s Tulln main draw participants hail from 14 different nations.
The 32-player singles draw will be completed with six successful qualifiers, two special exempts, and three wild card players awarded by tournament director Florian Leitgeb and ÖTV Sports Director Jürgen Melzer. One of these wild card recipients is Austria’s 18-year-old top youngster Joel Schwaerzler, who secured his first Challenger Tour title last May in Skopje, North Macedonia.
Here is a preliminary list of players:
Vit Kopriva (27, ATP No. 118) – Defending Champion from Tulln: As the current number one on the Tulln Acceptance List, Czech Republic’s fourth-ranked player returns to the “Garden City,” where he claimed his third Challenger Tour title by defeating India’s Sagal in the 2023 final.
Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (27, ATP No. 145) – United States: The charismatic New Yorker, who has claimed Challenger titles on both clay and hard courts, already thrilled fans this year at the ATP 250 tournament in Kitzbühel, where he knocked out Austrian Lukas Neumayer in the second round.
Henri Squire (23, ATP No. 182) – Germany: The 1.96m tall Duisburg native, who shares a college connection with NBA legend Tim Duncan and golf icon Arnold Palmer, starred for the Wake Forest University team in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Jerome Kym (21, ATP No. 183) – Switzerland: Coached by former Austrian Davis Cup player Markus Hipfl, the 1.98 m tall former U14 team world champion has recently secured two Challenger titles. Notably, he made his Davis Cup debut at just 15 years old, becoming the youngest Swiss player ever, and his powerful style of play continues to impress.
Piros Zsombor (24, ATP No. 211) – Hungary: With five Challenger titles under his belt, this right-hander from Budapest has consistently performed well, recently reaching the final in Split and the semifinals in Karlsruhe.
Filip Misolic (23, ATP No. 226) – Austria: First discovered at the Tulln NÖ Open powered by EVN in 2021, Misolic reached his first Challenger quarterfinal and secured his maiden victory over a Top-100 player. In 2022, he made a sensational ATP Tour debut by reaching the final in Kitzbühel. This year, he successfully qualified for the main draw at Roland Garros, advancing to the second round.
Local Hero Dennis Novak (30, ATP No. 240): The 2024 season hasn’t gone quite as planned for the former world No. 85. Despite this, the three-time Challenger winner has managed to reach the quarterfinals five times this year. His fourth appearance at the TC Tulln, with the support of the home crowd, could be the turning point for the father of two, who resides in Klosterneuburg.
