Medvedev v Fils, Sinner v Shelton first-round clashes headline ATP Vienna draw
Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas draws local favourite Dominic Thiem in another marquee first round match
Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner
Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner are the top two seeds at next week’s Erste Bank Open in Vienna but both players will have to navigate difficult first-round opponents in the ATP 500 event.
Medvedev, ranked No 3 in the world, faces French teen Arthur Fils, who will aim to win his second singles title when he takes on Alexander Bublik in the Antwerp final on Sunday. Meanwhile, Sinner, ranked No 4 in the world, will meet 21-year-old American Ben Shelton, who won his first ATP singles title in Tokyo on Sunday. Shelton had defeated the Italian, older by only 14 months, in the round of 16 at the Shanghai Masters just two weeks ago.
The draw gods were not kind to local favourite and former world No 3 Dominic Thiem either as the Austrian, who won the Vienna title in 2019, is drawn to meet fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. Third seed Andrey Rublev, leading the list of contenders for the remaining four berths at the season-ending ATP Finals, meets Aussie Alexei Popyrin.
Fifth seed Alexander Zverev will face local wild card Sebastian Ofner while seventh seed Frances Tiafoe opens against tenacious Brit Dan Evans.
