Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych, Dominic Thiem and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga helped kick off the Erste Bank Open 500 on Sunday with a game of mini-tennis in front of Vienna’s world-famous St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

The four top ATP World Tour players, all seeded at this week’s Vienna tournament, also interacted with fans and shared their expectations for one of the season’s final tournaments.

Murray, who’s chasing Novak Djokovic for the No. 1 spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is the top seed this week. Two years ago, during his only prior appearance at the tournament, the Scot won the title, defeating David Ferrer in the final. If Murray lifts the trophy on Sunday, he’d celebrate his seventh title of the season, which would mark a career high.

“I played well here last time. I was in the position of trying to qualify for the [Barclays ATP] World Tour Finals at the end of the year, so I was very motivated and managed to win the event,” Murray said. “The centre court is a really, really nice stadium and a great atmosphere. There’s a lot of history at the tournament as well, a lot of great players have played here over the years and won. So it’s a nice event to be part of.”

Murray also has been impressed with Vienna as a city. “When you’re driving around the city, the views are amazing,” he said. “There are great buildings and amazing architecture, and it’s a nice place to visit for sure.”

Berdych, the second seed, wants to finish his season strong. He repeated as champion at the Shenzhen Open earlier this month but fell in his opening matches in Tokyo and Shanghai.

“I’m feeling good. The second half of the year has been a little bit tough, but overall I think I’m ready. I had a good few days of preparation and rest,” Berdych said. “A few interesting things are happening, so I’m really looking forward to the last few weeks of the season.”

The 31 year old is currently in ninth place in the Emirates ATP Race To London, 325 points behind eighth-placed Thiem. This week’s titlist will receive 500 Emirates ATP Rankings points, and next week’s BNP Paribas Masters champion will earn 1,000 points.

“These two weeks are going to be very important. It’s going to be decided by playing good tennis. That’s what will get me through and get me in into the [Barclays ATP] World Tour Finals,” Berdych said. “I’m really just trying to go one by one. I’m here in Vienna. I just want to play some good tennis, starting well in the first match and build it up. Then whatever happens, happens.”

Dominic Thiem, who’s from just outside Vienna, is also hoping to boost his status in the Emirates ATP Race To London standings this week. The 23 year old is 95 points behind seventh-placed Rafael Nadal. Thiem will make his sixth consecutive main draw appearance in Vienna. He has a 4-5 record at his home tournament, with his best result the quarter-finals in 2013.

“Obviously I really love the city,” Thiem said. “I’m really happy that I can play at home.”

The sixth-seeded Tsonga will hope to rekindle old memories this week. He won the tournament in 2011, beating Juan Martin del Potro in three sets.

“I’m feeling good and just happy to be here. It’s a nice city, a nice tournament. I’ve had good matches at this tournament in the past, and I won one time,” Tsonga said. “For me it’s always great to be back. It’s an amazing city, to be honest. I’ve been coming here for a long time now, and it looks like the city has improved every year.”

Main draw play begins on Monday in Vienna, highlighted with Berdych facing off against Georgian qualifier Nikoloz Basilashvili.

A LOOK BACK

International Challenger Ningbo (Ningbo, China): Second seed Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei won his 25^th ATP Challenger Tour title with a dominant victory over Hiroki Moriya of Japan, 6-3, 6-1. Lu saved four match points in his semi-final win over sixth seed and #NextGen star Hyeon Chung of Korea. The veteran has been a dominant force at this event, winning three of the four editions of the Ningbo Challenger. He is also the third player to successfully defend a Challenger title this year.

Lu has recorded an outstanding 29-5 record on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2016, winning three titles (Ningbo, Surbiton, Ilkley) and finishing runner-up at two other events (Seoul, Bangkok)

Open Brest Arena Credit Agricole (Brest, France): Lucky loser Norbert Gombos of Slovakia completed an improbable week by sneaking into the main draw due to the withdrawal of French #NextGen star Quentin Halys, then capturing his first title of the year with a win over Yannik Reuter of Belgium, 7-5, 6-2. He is the first Lucky Loser to win a Challenger since 2013, when Jesse Huta Galung won in Cherbourg, France. 

Second seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah won their fourth doubles title of 2016 on Sunday at the VTB Kremlin Cup, fighting hard to take a 7-5, 4-6, 10-5 victory over the veteran Austrian duo of Julian Knowle/Jurgen Melzer. 

“It’s very special to win our first indoor title. We [had] never won more than one match at an indoor tournament,” said Cabal. “We felt very supported out there. We felt they were cheering for a high-quality tennis match and that’s what they got.”

Currently No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, the Colombian duo is in contention to make their first appearance at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Their win in Moscow puts them within 500 points of No. 8 team Treat Huey/Max Mirnyi. 

“Of course, we’ve been thinking about this. We are in the race and very close,” said Farah. “But what’s most important at the moment is winning this title and what it represents. We are very happy to have one more title in our pocket.”

The Colombian pairing showed their fighting spirit on several occasions during the contest. Knowle/Melzer attempted to serve out the first set at 5-4, but Cabal/Farah bounced back by breaking their opponents twice to steal the opening set. The Austrians stormed to a 5-1 lead in the second set, but Cabal/Farah clawed their way back to 4-5 before Knowle/Melzer held serve and sent the contest to a Match Tie-break.

It appeared that Knowle/Melzer were on their way to a win after taking a 3-0 lead, but Cabal/Farah once again rebounded and dominated the remainder of the match. A missed overhead by Knowle on match point wrapped up the contest.

Cabal/Farah have previously won titles this year in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Nice. All eight of their career ATP World Tour doubles titles have come together as a team.

Knowle/Melzer were competing on the ATP World Tour together for the first time in three years, in part due to Melzer’s recent 10-month absence with a shoulder injury. Both players were competing in their first ATP World Tour final of 2016.

Cabal/Farah earn 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and split $38,540 for their win, while Knowle/Melzer pick up 150 Emirates ATP Rankings points and split $20,260.

Pablo Carreno Busta overcame injury and a set deficit to celebrate his second career ATP World Tour title on Sunday at the VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow. The Spaniard outlasted Italian Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 inside Olympic Stadium.

Carreno Busta won nearly 70 per cent of his first-serve points and benefitted from six Fognini double faults in the one-hour and 56-minute final. He also padded his already impressive 2016 résumé.

The 25 year old has captured two ATP World Tour titles this season, having won the Winston-Salem Open crown in August (d. Bautista Agut). Carreno Busta finished runner-up on clay in Estoril and Sao Paulo. The Barcelona resident also became the third Spaniard to win two ATP World Tour titles this season, joining Rafael Nadal (Monte-Carlo, Barcelona) and Roberto Bautista Agut (Auckland, Sofia). Spanish players have won 10 titles this season, the most of any nation.

This week was Carreno Busta’s first time playing on the indoor courts in Moscow, but he looked comfortable and showed off his resiliency throughout the title run. The sixth seed won three of his five matches in three sets, including his title match against Fognini, who was going for his first career ATP World Tour hard-court title.

The 29 year old Italian jumped out in front but Carreno Busta came back and was leading 4-1 in the second set before he pulled up with a right thigh injury. The Spaniard was hobbling on the court and looked to be in pain, but his thigh was heavily wrapped during a medical timeout and Carreno Busta was sprinting around the court the next game.

He won the second set and broke Fognini twice in the third set, ending the match with an overhead winner. Carreno Busta will receive 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and $126,850.

Fognini was playing in his 12^th career ATP World Tour final and was trying to win his fifth career title. All four of Fognini’s previous titles have come on clay. He also was going for his second title of the season, having hoisted the Umag trophy in July. He will receive 150 Emirates ATP Rankings points and $66,815.

Daniel Nestor/Edouard Roger-Vasselin continued their unbeaten streak in 2016 with a win over top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut on Sunday in the final of the European Open in Antwerp, 6-4, 6-4.

“Anti-inflammatories, good partners. At this point in my career, whenever somebody asks me to play, I say yes,” joked Nestor about what still keeps him having success at age 44. “Eddie and I have always played well together, so we tried to take the opportunity.” 

The match opened with three consecutive service breaks, but Nestor/Roger-Vasselin came out on top to lead 2-1 and rode their slight advantage to the opening set. They opened the second set by breaking the top seeds and put on a clinic in their own service games, dropping just five points to storm through to the title.

Nestor/Roger-Vasselin are 7-0 as a team this year after prevailing in July at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C, and 23-6 since the 2015 Rogers Cup. Nestor has won at least one doubles title every season since 1994. His career ATP World Tour doubles finals record improves to a staggering 91-59, while Roger-Vasselin sees his jump to 13-6. Nestor has won three titles this year (Washington w/Roger-Vasselin, Nottingham w/Inglot), while Roger-Vasselin earned his second.

Herbert/Mahut were seeking their sixth ATP World Tour doubles title as a team in 2016. They’ve produced a 35-9 record this season and have already confirmed their spot for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Nestor/Roger-Vasselin pick up 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and split €30,620 for their win, while Herbert/Mahut earn 150 ATP Rankings points and €16,100 for their efforts.