Where is the tennis event

Styrian Davis Cup? “Wouldn’t have to build anything”

The infrastructure in Bad Waltersdorf has been positively tested.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Last week, the application deadline for Austria's home Davis Cup tennis match against Turkey in World Group I in mid-September (13-15), which is in contention for a ticket to qualify for the 2025 finals, passed. According to reports, Tulln (Lower Austria) and Bad Waltersdorf in Styria are in a race to host the home event on clay. 

While Tulln will host a Challenger tournament on its grounds one week before the Davis Cup, a Challenger will take place in Waltersdorf one week after the international tournament. In terms of sustainability (no long journeys, existing infrastructure), both venues would make sense. 

"We have a center court for up to 1,600 spectators at Sportaktivpark, everything is in place here and nothing would need to be expanded," says organizer Sascha Freitag, referring to the size of his grounds and existing stands. The Challenger in September 2023, when Dennis Novak only lost in the final, proved what a cauldron Bad Waltersdorf can be. "We had around 5,000 fans at the venue throughout the week, the region is very hungry for tennis," says Sportaktivpark owner Freitag.

Andrea Pellegrino triumphed in the final against Dennis Novak at the 2023 Layjet Open in Bad Waltersdorf.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Waltersdorf is certainly ready for a Davis Cup that takes place over two days. They would also provide the necessary setting. "We've already thought about cool activities like balloon rides for the teams here in the region - everything is in place in terms of ÖTV requirements." After hosting a women's Fed Cup in 1994, this would be the first time a men's Davis Cup tournament has been held in Eastern Styria 30 years later.

The Davis Cup was last hosted in Graz in 2018 and in Premstätten in 2020:

In 2020, Melzer, Marach and Co. served against Uruguay in Premstätten.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

The fans celebrated a tennis party against Australia at the Graz exhibition grounds in 2018.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Dominic Thiem and Co. fired up the crowd at the exhibition grounds.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

Thiem in successful David Cup times in Graz.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

With the second edition of the Challenger tournament, Bad Waltersdorf is set to host a tennis party anyway. "We're a 125-man tournament, which means a lot of points are at stake for the winner - equivalent to reaching the final of the ATP tournament in Kitzbühel," says Freitag, who is of course also hoping for the ÖTV bid for the Davis Cup. For the time being, the Challenger is fixed in the calendar until 2025.