Carlos Alcaraz will likely have little time to find his indoor hard-court feet at the Erste Bank Open.
The No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings has been drawn against former Top-10 star and recent US Open semi-finalist Karen Khachanov at the ATP 500 event in Vienna. Alcaraz, who will compete in the Austrian capital for the first time since 2021, will be seeking a fast start to his European indoor swing after his third-round exit to Zizou Bergs at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
Although Alcaraz will be wary of the threat posed by seven-time ATP Tour champion Khachanov, the Spaniard will enter the Vienna encounter with a 6-0 lead in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Should he extend his perfect record against Khachanov, Alcaraz would face Nikoloz Basilashvili or home wild card Jurij Rodionov in the second round, while seventh seed Tommy Paul is a potential quarter-final opponent.
Daniil Medvedev, who will compete in the Almaty semi-finals on Saturday, is also in Alcaraz’s half of the draw. The former World No. 1 is currently sixth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, and will know that a deep run in Vienna can bolster his Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes.
Alexander Zverev is the top seed in Vienna, where the German could also complete his journey to becoming World No. 1 for the first time. If he reaches the quarter-finals in Austria, Zverev will be guaranteed to rise to top spot on 2 November: He begins his title tilt at the Wiener Stadthalle against #NextGenATP wild card Martin Landaluce, while Brandon Nakashima and Tallon Griekspoor are his potential second-round opponents.
A trio of Nitto ATP Finals hopefuls — Flavio Cobolli, Alex de Minaur and Frances Tiafoe — feature in Zverev’s half of the draw. Sixth seed Tiafoe is a potential quarter-final opponent for the German, but faces a blockbuster opening match against Lorenzo Musetti. Fourth seed Cobolli, who starts against Grigor Dimitrov, and fifth seed De Minaur, who begins by facing a qualifier, are seeded to meet in the last eight.
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