Erste Bank Open

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Dominic Thiem(Bild: APA/dpa/Lukas Barth)

Dominic Thiem will face Luciano Darderi (ITA) in what will probably be his last match on the ATP Tour at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna on Tuesday evening. The 31-year-old former US Open winner will end his career after the ATP 500 tournament. 

Joel Schwärzler, who was present at the draw on Saturday in the Steffl department store, received a great draw for his Stadthalle debut: He will face the number 1, the world number three Alexander Zverev (GER).

Alexander Zverev(Bild: AP)

Schwärzler: "See it more as an opportunity"
"I see it more as an opportunity to play against the number 3 in the world. We've already been able to train together, we get on well," said Schwärzler. The 18-year-old from Vorarlberg is admittedly a blatant outsider. He was given a wild card by tournament boss Herwig Straka, which he thanked him for once again on Saturday. "I'm looking forward to the match. I'm going in to win, even if the odds aren't that high right now."

Joel Schwärzler(Bild: Christof Birbaumer/Kronenzeitung)

First duel with Darderi
The chances of a first-round win are also very slim for Thiem, who is currently playing his farewell match at the exhibition tournament in Frankfurt. Darderi is number 44 in the world, Thiem has never played against the 22-year-old Italian and this year's Cordoba winner.

Hits right at the start
First round hits at the 50th anniversary edition include the duel between Australian number two seed Alex de Minaur and German Jan-Lennard Struff and that between co-favorite Grigor Dimitrov (BUL-3) and the up-and-coming Chinese player Zhang Zhizhen.

Former Vienna finalist Frances Tiafoe (USA-5) will face Britain's Cameron Norrie and Jack Draper (GBR-7) will play against the wildcard Japanese Kei Nishikori (JPN).