VIENNA, October 15, 2015

Two time Vienna champion Tommy Haas was granted a wild card into the Erste Bank Open 500, taking place in Austria’s capital from October 17 to 25.

The 37-year-old German lifted the trophy twice in Vienna’s Stadthalle, back in 2001 and 2013. Haas also reached the final in 2000 and 2012 he gained the his 500th match win on the ATP World Tour beating US-American Jesse Levine in the second round.

“Vienna always brings back nice memories, as I took two titles here. That the tournament has become part of the 500-series makes it even more attrative to the players as well as the fans. I hope that I will be in good shape right on time.” Haas is looking forward to the start of the event next week. The German veteran, who claimed 15 ATP career titles, struggled with a lot of injuries in the past, which also led to the fact that he wasn’t able to defend his Vienna crown in 2014 due to shoulder injury.

Haas will also be introduced in the tournament’s “Hall of Fame” next Monday. “Tommy experienced a couple of highlights here in Vienna. Although he had to face a lot of injuries in his career, but always found a way back to the court. Our entry list will be even more attractive with Tommy’s name on it.” tournament’s director Herwig Straka told.

Haas will be joined by three current top-10- players: David Ferrer, Milos Raonic and Kevin Anderson. Against the latter, he lost in the opening round at the ATP Masters 1000 Event in Shanghai this week Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, John Isner, Dominic Thiem, Gael Monfils and Ivo Karlovic will also come to Vienna.

The other two two wild cards for the main draw were given to Austrians Gerald Melzer and Dennis Novak.

For the first time, Tretorn will provide the official balls for the tournament’s 41st the edition. The Swedisch company, founded in 1891, also sponsored the ATP events in Bastad, Hamburg, Umag and Zagreb this year.