VIENNA, October 17, 2015

Andreas Haider-Maurer, Tommy Haas and Mike Bryan attended the main draw ceremony of the Erste Bank Open 500 on Saturday, taking place on the ship MS Admiral Tegetthoff.

The 28-year-old Austrian received a tough opponent for his opening match, facing second seed Kevin Anderson. “That’s almost the most difficult match I could have got. Kevin is currently playing his best season. He serves big and is very aggressive from the baseline, putting a lot of pressure on his opponents,” Haider-Maurer analyzed. “It is a very strong tournament this year and you need to show your best tennis. That’s going to be the goal for my first round match against him.”

Main draw in Vienna with Andreas Haider-Maurer, Tommy Haas, tournament director Herwig Straka and Mike Bryan (photo: e-motion/Bildagentur Zolles KG/Christian Hofer)

Tommy Haas will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his opening match, which can be considered as an early highlight of the tournament. The 37-year-old German, who lifted the trophy in Austria’s capital in 2001 and 2013 will meet the Frenchman, who just made it into the final of the ATP Masters in Shanghai. “I am really looking forward to this match. Tsonga is an outstanding tennis player. A couple of years ago, I defeated him in Munich,” Haas, who was granted a wild card, told with a smile.

Fifth seed and local hero Dominic Thiem will face Jerzy Janowicz to open his Vienna campaign. It will be the pair’s first tour meeting. Top-seed David Ferrer starts his title quest against fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.