We take a look at the Selected Round of 16 Matches from the Erste Bank Open (Vienna Open) taking place at Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria, (Hard Indoor).
Photo Copyright – Steve Haag Sports
Erste Bank Open (Vienna Open)
ATP 500 Series
Selected Round of 16 Matches- 28th October
Pablo Carreno Busta (4/10) vs Kevin Anderson (19/10)
Aiming to become the first Spaniard to win this title since David Ferrer in 2015, Carreno Busta is also attempting to win his first match on indoor hardcourts during this portion of the season. He is coming off the back of a poor opening-round loss against Ugo Humbert in Antwerp. But you can never underestimate the dogged Carreno Busta, especially considering his brilliant back-to-back performances at the post-lockdown slams. He followed a scintillating semi-final showing at Flushing Meadows with an encouraging quarterfinal run in Paris. The hardcourt specialist has enjoyed a bizarre campaign. Outside of those Grand Slam highlights, his season has been largely forgettable (outside of a semi-final run in Rotterdam). It tends to suggest that he requires some time to bed himself into contests. He lost the opening set of two of his matches during that run in New York. That kind of deficit is harder to overcome in these compact, three-set events.
Kevin Anderson needed to draw on every sinew of his considerable frame to overcome Dennis Novak in his opening win. Anderson should relish this return to Vienna (he won the Vienna title in 2018). But that was in in the middle of Anderson’s golden period, when he was regularly gracing the latter stages of Grand Slam events. But multiple knee surgeries have seen the 34-year-old South African plummet down the world rankings. He only played five events last year and currently owns a 6-8 record this season. He showed signs of improvement at Roland Garros, ultimately settling for a 3rd round finish. Perhaps a return to one of his favourite haunts will trigger some of his best tennis. Anderson loves the speed of these courts and can use his massive serve to dominate points.
Anderson may also take some comfort in this encounter. He leads the head-to-head with Carreno Busta 4-1. He actually won their first four meetings, including the 2017 US Open semi-finalist. Carreno Busta managed to win their last meeting in Miami in 2018. I think this one has surprise written all over it. Those little signs of improvement in Paris could come to fruition here for Anderson.
Felix Auger Aliassime (5/10) vs Vasek Pospisil (15/10)
This all-Canadian affair pits one up-and-coming superstar against a journeyman veteran. Felix Auger Aliassime is coming off the back of two brilliant weeks in Cologne. He followed his 6h consecutive ATP Final loss with another semi-final run: on both occasions he lost to players ranked higher than him. Auger Aliassime has already reached three final this year, all of which came on hardcourts. He has a year-to-date win-loss record of 22-13, hinting at the somewhat mercurial nature of his offensive baseline play. He also made some headway at the Grand Slam level, losing to eventual US Open Champion Dominic Thiem in the Round of 16 at Flushing Meadows. Aliassime is clearly a dangerous player and will be hoping to make it a hat-trick of impressive indoor-hardcourt performances.
There’s always an added level of intrigue when compatriots clash. Vasek Pospisil is on the opposite end of the form spectrum to Felix Auger Aliassime. He has lost his last two consecutive opening-round matches. He actually needed to come through a gruelling qualifying campaign to make the main draw. But there is enough to suggest that the 30-year-old will be no pushover in this match. He reached his 2nd ATP Final earlier this year (on the indoor hardcourts of Montpellier). That event saw him beat the likes of David Goffin and Denis Shapovalov. He then battled past the red-hot Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the 4th round of the US Open. So, there’s certainly enough in the Pospisil arsenal to combat anyone. He will look to use his net attacks to force Aliassime into unforced errors.
Aliassime leads the head-to-head 3-0. Having said that, the youngster just snuck past Pospisil in last year’s Canadian Masters. The last two sets of that encounter were tight tiebreaks. Aliasimme has the capacity to make a bucketload of unforced errors. This may give Pospisil the chance to pick up a set. However, I think that Aliasimme should overpower his older opponent in three sets.
