Austria is represented with five players in the individual main competition of the Generali Open in Kitzbühel, which starts on Monday. On Sunday, the qualifiers Sebastian Ofner and Gerald Melzer completed the ÖTV quintet with wins in the second round. Dominic Thiem and the wildcards Jurij Rodionov and Filip Misolic had already been fixed before.
Ofner also won the second qualifying game on Sunday without losing a set and defeated Vitaly Satschko from the Ukraine 6:4,6:4. Gerald Melzer, who flew to Kitzbühel immediately after his quarter-final elimination at the Challenger in Tampere, defeated the Russian Ivan Gachow 6:3.3:6.6:3.
The drawing of the qualifiers initially did not result in an Austrian duel: Rodionov plays against Argentinian Hernan Casanova, Misolic against lucky loser Daniel Dutra da Silva (BRA). Ofner has caught the toughest lot with number 6 seeded Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor and Melzer meets German Yannik Hanfmann. If Melzer wins, he will measure himself against Kitzbühel’s “secret” number 1, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, seeded number 2. There could be an Austrian duel in the second round if Ofner and Thiem (initially against Richard Gasquet/FRA) win their first matches.
