VIENNA/WASHINGTON, October 20, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)
Qualifying draw No. 1 seed Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic defeated No. 70 Alexandre Muller of France, 6-3, 6-2, in 69 minutes Sunday afternoon to advance to the main draw of the ATP 500 Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Austria.
The 51st-ranked Mensik, fresh from a recent quarterfinal run earlier this month at the Rolex Shanghai Masters — including a pair of Top-10 wins against Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov — hit nine aces and 28 winners, dropped just five points on his first serve, and saved the only break point he faced. The 19-year-old #NextGenATP rising Czech star outpointed the fifth-seeded Muller 62-45.
Also advancing to the main draw were: Quentin Halys of France, Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil and Marton Fucsovics of Hungary.
The 95th-ranked Halys upset No. 3 seed Jaume Munar of Spain, 6-1, 7-6 (3); No. 8 seed Seyboth Wild, ranked 80th, defeated No. 90 Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States, 6-4, 6-4; and 93rd-ranked Fucsovics went the distance to beat No. 135 Richard Gasquet of France,6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3.
Mensik will play No. 8 seed Alexei Popyrin of Australia Monday evening, while Fucsovics will oppose No. 42 Matteo Berrettini Monday afternoon. Meanwhile, Halys’s first-round opponent will be No. 41 Gaël Monfils of France, while Seyboth Wild will play Almaty Open champion Karen Khachanov of Russia.
Monday’s Erste Bank order of play
Around the Erste Bank Open
World No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany highlights play on Opening Day. The top seed will take Center Court inside Wiener Stadthalle to face Austrian wild card Joel Schwaerzler during the evening session, which begins not before 6 p.m. The day session, which begins at 2 p.m., features Italians Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Berrettini in action.
Tomorrow is the day! Austrian young gun Joel Schwärzler takes on Germany’s @AlexZverev on #ErsteBankOpen Center Court! pic.twitter.com/cAFvAQbV0S
— Erste Bank Open (@ErsteBankOpen) October 20, 2024
