Auger-Aliassime Meets Thiem In Blockbuster Halle Opener

The draw for the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle has delivered a host of intriguing first-round encounters, not least a second ATP Head2Head meeting between Felix Auger-Aliassime and Dominic Thiem.

Thiem defeated Auger-Aliassime in straight sets at the 2020 US Open three years ago and the Austrian wild card will hope for a repeat result when he competes on grass for the first time since 2021 at the ATP 500. Thiem and the fifth-seeded Auger-Aliassime, who reached the semi-finals at Halle’s OWL ARENA last year, are in the same quarter of the draw as second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who opens his campaign against Gregoire Barrere.

Fourth seed Jannik Sinner is also in the bottom half of the draw in Germany. The Italian will make his Halle debut against Richard Gasquet, with the winner set to take on whoever prevails in a big-hitting battle between Nick Kyrgios and Lorenzo Sonego.

Headlining the Halle field is Daniil Medvedev, who reached the championship match in 2022. The top seed looks to bounce back from early defeat in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week in a first-round match against a qualifier. Should Medvedev reach the quarter-finals, he could face home favourite and two-time finalist Alexander Zverev, who takes on Roberto Bautista Agut in his opening match.

Hubert Hurkacz delivered one of the performances of the 2022 grass season to down Medvedev in last year’s final in Halle. The Pole defends his crown as the sixth seed, and he will hope to make a fast start against a qualifier. Andrey Rublev is a potential quarter-final opponent for Hurkacz: The third seed is chasing his first tour-level title on grass at the OWL Arena, where he faces a tough opening test against the fast-rising Chinese star Wu Yibing.