The Vienna Open, also known as the Erste Bank Open for sponsorship reasons, is a prestigious men's tennis tournament with a rich history spanning 50 years.
History
Founded in 1974, this annual event takes place in Vienna, Austria, and is hosted at the Wiener Stadthalle. Throughout its existence, the Vienna Open has held various classifications within professional tennis circuits.From 1974 to 1989, it was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit. In 1990, it joined the ATP Tour, where it has remained ever since. The tournament's category has fluctuated over the years:
- 1990-1995: ATP World Series (equivalent to today's ATP 250)
- 1996-2008: ATP Championship Series/International Series Gold (equivalent to today's ATP 500)
- 2009-2014: ATP 250
- 2015-present: ATP 500
Surface and Format
From 1976 to 1999, matches were contested on indoor carpet courts.However, since 2000, the tournament has been played on indoor hard courts, with the exception of its inaugural year in 1974, which was also on hard courts.
The tournament structure features a 32-player singles main draw, a 16-player qualifying draw, and a 16-team doubles event.
Sponsorship
The Vienna Open has been known by several different names throughout its history due to various sponsorships:- Stadthalle Open: This was its original name when founded in 1974.
- Fischer-Grand Prix: The tournament held this name from 1976 to 1985.
- CA-TennisTrophy: It was known by this name from 1986 to 2003.
- BA-CA-TennisTrophy: The event carried this title from 2004 to 2007.
- Bank Austria TennisTrophy: This was its name from 2008 to 2010.
- Erste Bank Open: Since 2011, the tournament has been known by this name due to sponsorship from Erste Bank.
Notable Players
Notable players who have won at the Vienna Open include Roger Federer, Ivan Ljubicic, Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem, Stan Smith, Pete Sampras, Alexander Zverev, and Andrey Rublev.Notable doubles champions include the Bryan Brothers team-up of Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan. Roger Federer also won a doubles title at the Vienna Open when he teamed up with Yves Allegro at the 2003 event. More recent winners include Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian-Cabal.
Austrian Players
The Vienna Open has had a complex relationship with Austrian tennis players throughout its history.Thomas Muster, widely regarded as Austria's most accomplished tennis player, never managed to secure the title at his home tournament despite coming close on several occasions.
Muster reached the final three times (1988, 1993, and 1995) and advanced to the semi-finals four times (1987, 1989, 1990, and 1994), demonstrating his consistent high-level performance at the event.
Despite Muster's inability to clinch the title, three Austrian players have succeeded in winning the Vienna Open singles championship. Horst Skoff became the first Austrian champion in 1988, creating a moment of national pride.
It would be over two decades before another Austrian victory, with Jürgen Melzer achieving back-to-back wins in 2009 and 2010. The most recent Austrian triumph came in 2019 when Dominic Thiem added his name to the list of home-grown champions.