KITZBÜHEL, August 1, 2015
The 2015 edition of the Generali Open in Kitzbühel kicked off with the official main draw ceremony, taking place in the city centre on Friday evening.
The tournament’s top-seed Dominic Thiem, who attended the start of the event in the last three years, was not able to take part, as he is still in Gstaad playing the semi-finals of the Swiss Open on Saturday against Feliciano López. Thiem’s friend Dennis Novak, who received a wild card from the organizers and will be one of five Austrians, drew the matches under the supervision of tournament director Alexander Antonitsch as well as the ATP officials. For the first time, Novak will play Aljaz Bedene in his opening match. “I will pick up some tips from Dominic, who beat him at the French Open this year. I hope that I can use my wild card as good as possible,” Novak told.
Thiem receives a bye at this home tournament, facing the winner of Andreas Haider-Maurer and Joao Souza. “I think it will be a manageable task for Andi. He showed an amazing performance at the Davis Cup here in Kitzbühel, so I hope for an all-Austrian-affair in the second round,” Antonitsch told and added that in any case it will be difficult for Thiem in his opening match.
Second seed Andreas Seppi will face the winner of the match between Mikhail Youzhny and Dusan Lajovic. Philipp Kohlschreiber, the only German in the main draw, is the tournament’s sixth seed and will take on a qualifier. The 31-year-old German, who has moved to the Tyrolean Alps at the beginning of this year, considers Kitzbühel as his second home tournament besides Munich. Kohlschreiber tweeted on Saturday, that he enjoys the stunning view as well as the nice weather and is having a good feeling for the upcoming week.
Kohlschreiber twitter on Saturday morning
Austrian veteran Jürgen Melzer, who was granted a wild card, will meet Daniel Gimeno-Traver in his first round match. “I think that Jürgen will get his chances against the Spaniard. The altitude could help him,” Antonitsch said.
Two former Kitzbühel champion will go head to head in the opening round, when Robin Haase (winner in 2011 and 2012) will face Juan Mónaco (winner in 2007). Both players will meet for the sixth time on the tour, with the Argentine leading 3-2 in head to head records.
David Goffin will not defend his title in Kitzbühel. The Belgian would have been seeded first, but is still playing at the ATP 250 in Gstaad taking on Thomaz Bellucci. The spoke to Tennis TourTalk on Friday evening about the reasons for his withdrawal from the tournament.
“I am facing a big schedule until the end of the year. It’s not good news for me, as I actually wanted to come back and defend my title. It is always a pleasure to go to this wonderful city. I am really sad but there will be a Davis Cup tie for me in a view weeks, which wasn’t in the schedule at the beginning of the year. I played a good Wimbledon and I am still here in Gstaad and feel a bit tired. That’s the reason I chose to pull out of Kitzbühel,” he stated.
