Four matches, eight players, four places in the semifinals: today the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, an indoor ATP 500 event, settles its quarterfinals. The order of play is Adrian Mannarino-Daniil Medvedev, Tommy Paul-Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev-Arthur Fery and Matteo Berrettini-Alex De Minaur. Only one Italian is still in the running: Berrettini.
The tournament began on October 26 with 32 players in the draw, from 15 countries. With the round of 16 done, 24 matches have been played: eight ended in a tie-break, seven went to a deciding set and two finished with a retirement. A year ago the title went to Jannik Sinner, who beat Zverev 3-6 6-3 7-5 in the final. This time the list of champions will gain a new name.
The headline match is Paul-Alcaraz. Alcaraz is world No. 3 with 5,710 points, Paul is No. 14 with 2,775. The Spaniard got past Karen Khachanov (6-4 7-6(5)) and then Nikoloz Basilashvili, beaten 6-1 7-6(11) in a second set decided only in the tie-break. Paul answered with two one-sided wins: 7-5 6-2 over Andrey Rublev and 6-1 6-1 over Luciano Darderi.
The head-to-head favors Alcaraz, who leads 5-2 and has won the last four meetings. The latest is recent: the round of 16 at the 2026 US Open, 6-4 6-3 6-4. Before that came the 6-0 6-1 6-4 quarterfinal at the 2025 French Open and the 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-2 quarterfinal at Wimbledon 2024. Paul knows how it's done, though: he beat him in Toronto in 2023 (6-3 4-6 6-3) and in Montreal in 2022 (6-7(4) 7-6(7) 6-3).
Zverev-Fery pits No. 2 against No. 32 in the rankings. Zverev has 9,850 points, 600 fewer than Sinner, and in Vienna he is defending last year's final, worth 330 points. His run tells the story of the week: 7-5 3-6 7-6(11) over Martin Landaluce in 34 games, the longest match of the tournament, then 6-4 7-5 over Tallon Griekspoor. He has won eight of his last ten matches.
Fery is 24 years old, has 1,506 points and has come through the draw with a cool head: Jacob Fearnley retired trailing 5-1, then came the win over Lorenzo Musetti, 6-4 5-7 6-4. The two have met once before, in the semifinal at Wimbledon 2026, and Zverev won 7-6(0) 6-2 6-4. For Fery this is a chance to change the sign of the rivalry. In his last ten matches he has five wins and five losses.
In Mannarino-Medvedev the rankings say a lot: No. 5 against No. 60. Medvedev has 3,960 points, nine wins in his last ten matches and a path through Daniel Merida Aguilar (7-6(5) 6-1) and Cameron Norrie, beaten 4-6 6-3 7-6(1). Mannarino is 38 years old with 883 points, but in the round of 16 he eliminated Jakub Mensik 6-4 7-5, after a comeback against Ignacio Buse: 0-6 7-5 6-4.
In their head-to-head Medvedev leads 4-1. Mannarino's only win came in the round of 16 at 's-Hertogenbosch in 2023 (4-6 6-4 6-2). The last two times the Russian won, at 's-Hertogenbosch in 2025 by 7-6(6) 6-4 and in Beijing in 2024 by 7-6(6) 6-2. In both matches the first set ended 7-6(6): if the Frenchman wants to surprise him, he has to try to win exactly that tie-break.
The match Italian fans care about most comes last, Berrettini-De Minaur. Berrettini is No. 44 with 1,183 points and has already won two rounds in Vienna: 6-3 6-4 over Tomas Martin Etcheverry, then the win over Flavio Cobolli, 5-2 with his opponent retiring. In his last ten matches he has five wins and five losses, so this quarterfinal is also a test of consistency.
De Minaur is No. 10 with 3,380 points and has won eight of his last ten. In Vienna he has beaten Tomas Machac 1-6 6-4 6-3 and Learner Tien 6-4 6-2. A year ago he stopped in the semifinal, and in the 2025 quarterfinal he eliminated Berrettini, 6-1 7-6(4). The overall record, however, is 3-1 for the Italian, with wins in London in 2021 (6-4 6-4), at Wimbledon in 2023 (6-3 6-4 6-4) and in Miami in 2025 (6-3 7-6(7)).
For Italy it is a do-or-die day. There were five Italians in the draw and Berrettini is the last one: Musetti lost to Fery, Cobolli stopped with the retirement against Berrettini, Darderi went out against Paul and Matteo Arnaldi against Darderi (7-5 6-2) a round earlier. Berrettini is No. 44, a single point behind Jan-Lennard Struff, No. 43.
The points matter too. The tournament awards 200 points for the semifinal, 330 for the final and 500 for the title. For Zverev, who defends the 2025 final, and for De Minaur, who defends the semifinal, every round also helps to avoid losing ground compared with twelve months ago. Berrettini defends the 100 points of the 2025 quarterfinal: a semifinal would be a net gain of 100 points.
Form over the last thirty matches speaks above all for Alcaraz: 26 wins and 4 losses, after a 2025 that ended with 64 wins, 7 losses and eight titles. Zverev is 25-5, Medvedev 23-7, Paul 20-10, De Minaur 20-9. Today's schedule has only one flaw: you have to choose which match to start with.
And afterward? The four winners will play the semifinals, and whoever goes all the way will take the title that belonged to Sinner in 2025. Order of play, live results and the draw can be followed on the tournament page at youaretennis.com, while the player profiles tell the story of each protagonist's ranking, form and head-to-head records.
Test yourself
3 questions on what you have just read.
1. Who won the Erste Bank Open in Vienna in 2025?
2. What is the head-to-head record between Paul and Alcaraz?
3. How did the round of 16 match between Berrettini and Cobolli end?