Andreas Seppi is defending his title in Val Gardena

As in the last four years, the tennis center in Runggaditsch/St. Ulrich a professional tournament for men worth 64.000 euros took place. It is the largest and most important tennis tournament in South Tyrol. “The most important news for us is that Andreas Seppi is back and will try to defend his title from last year,” explained tournament director Wolfgang Wanker at the press conference today. Ellis Kasslatter, who has been head of the organizing committee at the professional tournament since this year, is also pleased about the acceptance of the driving force. “Seppi is of course the attraction of our tournament and we all hope that he will stay in the tournament for a long time. As far as the organization is concerned, we are right on schedule. We only have small details to clarify.”

Home game for Andreas Seppi

Once a year, South Tyrolean fans have the opportunity not only to follow Andreas Seppi on television or on the Internet, but to see him live. The Kalterer is currently number 50 in the world rankings and has had a mixed season (22 wins and 28 defeats on the ATP tour so far). Five quarterfinals (Munich, Düsseldorf, Kitzbühel, Winston-Salem and Shenzhen) and the third round at the French Open in Paris stand out. He also reached the semi-finals of the Davis Cup with Italy for the first time in 16 years. Seppi has been in the top 2005 almost continuously since May 100 and has spent most of his career in the top 50. At the end of January 2013 he was even number 18 in the ATP computer.

Seppi is looking forward to the “home game” in Ortisei “It's the only tournament at the end of the season where I can play at home. My girlfriend and my family are there and of course there are a lot of fans too,” says the Kalterer, for whom the tournament in Ortisei will probably be the last of the long season. Massimo Sartori, his coach for 18 years, claims: “Last year Andreas triumphed in Val Gardena at the end of an intense season. Of course he wants to win this year too, but it definitely won’t be easy.” 90 world ranking points and 9200 euros in prize money await the winner in Val Gardena. The Kalterer native has a record of 9:1 wins in Val Gardena, which he wants to continue to build on. It is not yet clear which players will challenge Seppi for tournament victory in three weeks. “The ATP will only publish the entry list next Tuesday, but of course we hope to welcome numerous top 100 players again,” says Wanker. For the second time after the successful premiere in 2013, the tennis center in St. Ulrich will be playing on the blue acrylic resin surface - a hard court on which Seppi feels very comfortable.

New collaboration with the tennis association FIT The Italian tennis association FIT is also supporting this year's tournament in Val Gardena. “We have entered into a deal with the association that is now allowed to award three of the four wild cards in the main draw,” says Wanker. Until now, Val Gardena had distributed all four “invitations” independently. “We will discuss this with the association,” says Wanker. “Our only wild card is of course reserved for Andreas Seppi.” Whether he needs it depends on his position in the world rankings in the draw. If Seppi is among the top 27 in the world rankings from October 50th, according to the ATP regulations he is only allowed to compete with a wild card, otherwise registration for the tournament is sufficient.

Qualification with South Tyrolean players Andreas Seppi is the big star in the main draw, but some South Tyrolean players will be in action in Val Gardena at least in the qualification, where 1 players will fight for four tickets in the main draw on November 2st and 32nd. The association is allowed to distribute three of the six wild cards for qualification, three remain with the organizers. “One is reserved for the winner of the ITF U18 tournament in Salsomaggiore,” says Wanker. This is Italy's talent Matteo Berrettini. “Then we would still have two wild cards. One option is certainly Patrick Prader, who has had another very good season and has home advantage in Val Gardena,” says Wanker. “I’m excited to see who else asks for a wild card.”

Almost nothing changes in the program for the tournament week. The qualification, which takes place over two or three days, will be drawn on Friday, October 31st at 21 p.m. The main draw will be drawn on Saturday, November 1st and begins on Monday, November 2nd. The tournament will end on Sunday, November 9th with the two finals (singles and doubles). “Like last year, from the round of 6 on Thursday, November XNUMXth, we would like to only play on one pitch in order to be able to set up additional stands and have as many spectators as possible in the hall,” Wanker concludes.

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Andreas Seppi is defending his title in Val Gardena

The fifth edition of the “ATP Challenger Val Gardena South Tyrol” was presented in Ortisei on Thursday. It was announced that a very special driving force and crowd puller would be at the start this year too.

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