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Austria’s Davis Cup team will play the home game against Pakistan on September 16th and 17th in Tulln for the first time. Austria is considered the big favorite. In the event of a win, in spring 2023 the focus will again be on participation in the lucrative final tournament.
After the 3-1 draw against South Korea in Seoul, captain Jürgen Melzer’s team is playing against relegation to World Group I or relegation. The red-white-red selection is the big favorite against Pakistan.
This will probably make Tulln the tennis heart of Austria for two weeks: From September 4th to 11th the ATP Challenger will be staged for the second time and from September 9th to 11th the Final Four of the Bundesliga will probably also take place. The Center Court of TC Tulln offers space for around 1,500 fans.
As expected, Austria welcomes Pakistan on clay, which according to a survey by sports director Melzer is the preferred surface among the players anyway. It is likely that several aces of the Davis Cup selection will hit the fairgrounds just under 30 km west of Vienna as the crow flies before the international match.
Photo series with 3 pictures
Home advantage for Lower Austrian players
Captain Melzer was equally delighted after Tulln’s choice: “I think it’s cool that we found such an organizer. It’s not that easy these days. I think it’s great that Florian Leitgeb is doing this, and of course it’s also fitting right after the ATP Challenger. Some of our Davis Cup players will also play the ATP Challenger before that. This means that you are already used to the conditions. I think that is a huge advantage.”
Melzer is hoping for a good home advantage, since “many of our top players come from Lower Austria”. Dennis Novak, who was born in Wiener Neustadt, and Jurij Rodionov, who grew up in Matzen (Gänserndorf district), currently play in the Davis Cup team. In March, Lucas Miedler from Tulln was also appointed to the team.
Florian Leitgeb organizes Davis Cup for the first time
Florian Leitgeb is the organizer of a Davis Cup for the first time, following in the footsteps of his father Ronald Leitgeb, who died unexpectedly on February 16, 2022. Florian Leitgeb is also tournament director of the Challenger. “My father organized many great Davis Cup matches for Austria himself. It makes me personally very proud to follow in his footsteps and to be able to organize this international match.”
Among other things, Ronnie Leitgeb was responsible for organizing the memorable encounter with the USA in 1990 in front of around 17,000 fans in Vienna’s Prater Stadium and for the one against France (2011) at Hangar 3 at Vienna-Schwechat Airport (Bruck/Leitha district).
