KITZBÜHEL, July 17, 2016

Three Austrian players started into the qualifying of the Generali Open in Kitzbühel on Saturday, but none of them survived the opening round. Wild cards Lenny Hampel and Lucas Miedler lost to Dmitry Popko and Daniel Gimeno-Traver respectively. Alternate Pascal Brunner fell to Kenny de Schepper in straight sets.

In the meantime, the tournament’s top seed Dominic Thiem arrived in the Kitzbühel Alps on Saturday in order to start his preparations for the ATP 250 event. The local hero has received a bye in the first round, awaiting the winner of the match between Jürgen Melzer and Taro Daniel. Thiem had his first practice session with Japanese youngster Akira Santillan, who was granted a wild card into the main draw by licensor Octagon.

The world number eight will step into the competition’s action on Tuesday alongside his doubles partner Dennis Novak. The Austrian pair will face 2012 Kitzbühel doubles champion Julian Knowle and Lukas Rosol.