Comeback in Vienna: Dimitrov takes on Cobolli as Zverev eyes No. 1
After more than a month without a match, Grigor Dimitrov returns in Vienna on Tuesday evening – as a wildcard against world No. 6 Flavio Cobolli. Alexander Zverev starts his campaign earlier in the day.
Photo: Vbrunophotog / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Video: YouTube · Tennis TV · youtube.com
Grigor Dimitrov plays his first match in more than a month at the ATP 500 event in Vienna. The Bulgarian, who slipped one place to No. 124 in the new rankings, received a wildcard from the organisers and meets fourth seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy, the world No. 6, in Tuesday's evening session (not before 8pm local time). According to Tennis24.bg it is their first official meeting, and according to Dir.bg it is Dimitrov's first match against a top-10 player since early April. It is his eighth appearance in Vienna; his best result was the 2022 semi-finals.
From 5.30pm, top seed Alexander Zverev faces Spanish wildcard Martín Landaluce on Centre Court. The stakes are high for the German: reaching the quarter-finals would make him world No. 1 from 2 November, according to the ATP Tour – the second German after Boris Becker in 1991. He has already clinched year-end No. 1. Second seed Carlos Alcaraz plays Karen Khachanov in the afternoon.
On Monday Alex de Minaur averted an early exit: the Australian trailed Tomáš Macháč 6-1, 4-2 but came back to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. The victory matters in the race for the ATP Finals in Turin, where he is currently tenth. Matteo Berrettini beat Tomás Martín Etcheverry 6-3, 6-4 and will face the winner of Cobolli against Dimitrov.