Alexander Zverev is two wins from becoming world No. 1. The top seed at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna opens against wild card Martin Landaluce, and if he reaches the quarterfinals at the Wiener Stadthalle he is guaranteed to replace Jannik Sinner at the top of the PIF ATP Rankings on 2 November.
Zverev already knows he will finish the year at No. 1. He clinched that on 12 October, the 20th man to do so since 1973, and Vienna decides only when he gets there. He trailed Sinner 10,950 points to 10,070 in the rankings published on 19 October. Sinner, last year’s Vienna champion, ended his season this month with a knee injury and is not in the draw.
Zverev’s quarter. The winner of Zverev’s opener meets Brandon Nakashima or Tallon Griekspoor. Sixth seed Frances Tiafoe, his projected quarterfinal opponent, starts against Lorenzo Musetti. In the other quarter of the top half, fourth seed Flavio Cobolli opens against wild card Grigor Dimitrov and fifth seed Alex de Minaur against a qualifier, with the two seeded to meet in the last eight. Matteo Berrettini plays Tomas Etcheverry, and Luca Van Assche plays Learner Tien.
Alcaraz. Carlos Alcaraz, ranked third, is seeded second on a wild card and plays in Vienna for the first time since 2021. He arrives from a third-round loss to Zizou Bergs in Shanghai and opens against Karen Khachanov, a seven-time tour champion and a semifinalist at this year’s US Open, whom he has beaten in all six of their meetings. The winner plays Nikoloz Basilashvili or home wild card Jurij Rodionov. Basilashvili is in the draw as a special exempt because he was still playing in Almaty, where he reached Sunday’s final. Seventh seed Tommy Paul, who opens against Andrey Rublev, is Alcaraz’s projected quarterfinal opponent.
The bottom half. Third seed Daniil Medvedev, who played the Almaty semifinals on Saturday, opens against Daniel Merida. Eighth seed Jakub Mensik plays a qualifier, Cameron Norrie meets Francisco Cerundolo, Ignacio Buse plays a qualifier, and Luciano Darderi faces Matteo Arnaldi.
What it means. Vienna is also a stop in the race to Turin. Medvedev was sixth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin going into the week, and Cobolli, de Minaur and Tiafoe are all still chasing places at the Nitto ATP Finals, which start on 15 November. Where each of them stood a week ago is in our Race to Turin update, and the qualification rules are in the ATP Finals guide.
What’s next. Main-draw play begins on Monday and the final is on Sunday, 1 November, with 500 ranking points for the champion. Basel runs the same week, and the Rolex Paris Masters follows from 2 November. The Erste Bank Open guide has the venue, format and past champions, and our ATP 500 explainer sets out what the category means. How the No. 1 changes hands at the end of a season is covered in the year-end No. 1 explainer.
