An interesting situation occurred in the Woman Elite draw of the 2nd Vienna Classics (10-12 Feb), the kick-off International World Tour event 2012. The two players Nicole Eisler and Nathalie Zeoli both have the same number of points on the World Rankings and are thus both number two in the world. “For the seeding at Vienna Classics this means an additional draw had to decide that Nicole Eisler is topseeded and Zeoli is number two”, explains Rules Officer Karim Hanna. No such problems occurred in the Men Elite draw, where World number one Christoph Krenn is top seeded. All draws and the time schedule for Friday are now online on www.resultreporter.com
World Champion Kubanova onsite
Neither the topseeded Eisler nor Zeoli are favourites for the Vienna Classics title though. Current World Champion Zuzana Kubanova is coming back to Austria to take her next title and unfortunately Austrian top player Simone Seitz is her opponent in round one already. On the bottom half it looks like a march through to the final of Zeoli, which could end up in the revenge for the World Champs final. No wildcards were issued in the 8 player draw. In women’s double Eisler/Zeoli will presumably battle for gold with Seitz/Hrabina, while Mixed Doubles looks like an easy victory for the new pair Kubanova/Krenn.
5 Top 10 players in Vienna
The Men Elite draw is traditionally strong in Austria, with 5 top ten players battling for the title. On the top half world numer one Christoph Krenn could face Jermaine Manners in the semis, while number two seed Joey Schubert will have either one of the top Germans Thorsten Deck or Alex Köpf to beat in order to reach the final. Wildcards went to Men B – World Champion Alex Sopko from Slovakia and the best current Slovenian player Janez Makovec. Surprisingly not on the entry list is Michi Dickert, who is only aiming for the Doubles title with Christoph Krenn this time. Biggest challengers for victory are polish pair Samonek/Stolicki, Köpf/Schubert and first timers Weigl/Manners.
Everything around
The big advantage of Austrias nationalteam sportscentre Tennispoint Vienna is that everything is around. The tournament hotel walking distance just down the road, the city centre of Vienna nearby and the players dinner will be held on Saturday night directly at the sports centre. Best airports to fly to are Vienna and Bratislava see http://racketlon.at/vc2012/traveling
Tournament Director krenn@racketlon.at
Tournament Homepage www.racketlon.at/vc2012
