No. 1 seed and 2023 champion Jannik Sinner will kick off his ATP 500 Vienna campaign against Daniel Altmaier in the first round on Wednesday. The winner will face Tomas Machac or Flavio Cobolli.
(1) Jannik Sinner vs. Daniel Altmaier
Outside of Italy, the Erste Bank Open in Vienna is a home tournament for Sinner more than any other. Of course, it is not the case that he needs extra help with any event. The world No. 2 is 43-6 this season, including Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Sinner heads into this week well-rested after expending little energy to take home $6 million at the Six Kings Slam, where he made quick work of both Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
First up for the top seed on Wednesday is a familiar foe in Altmaier, who trail the head-to-head series 2-1. Altmaier inflicted a five-set defeat at Roland Garros in 2023, but Sinner has won both previous hard-court encounters: in five sets at the 2022 US Open and 6-3, 6-3 a few weeks ago at the Shanghai Masters. Altmaier followed up that result with a heavy defeat to Gilles Arnaud Bailly in the first round of Brussels, so there is little reason to think anything will be different for the 51st-ranked German on Wednesday.
Choice: sinner in 2
Tomas Machac vs. Flavio Cobolli
Machac and Cobolli will also face each other for the fourth time in their careers on Wednesday. All three of their previous encounters have gone Machac’s way; 7-6(7), 5-7, 6-1 in 2022 US Open qualifying, 7-6(3), 6-2 in a 2022 indoor hard-court Challenger tournament, and 6-1, 6-2 to start this season at the United Cup.
Since reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals, Cobolli has defeated only one opponent who scored better than 56th. Machac has also cooled down in recent months, although he managed to reach at least the fourth round at the US Open. This matchup really hits home. Cobolli has a terrible life of 15-28 years indoors; Machac is a sparkling 105-50. Expect the 31st-ranked Czech to score another head-to-head victory in this match.
Choice: Machac in 2
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