The Austrian Open is an outdoor clay court tournament that was first held in 1894. It is one of the oldest men’s tennis tournaments that has been held in various venues like Prague, Vienna, Graz, Portschach, and Kitzbuhel. Since 1969, the tournament has been held in Kitzbuhel.
The tournament hosts a singles and a doubles competition. The latter was introduced in 1995. As a part of the ATP 250 series of events, both disciplines are played in a single elimination knockout round format. The draw size of the singles event is 28, which includes four spots for qualifiers and four for wildcard entrants. In doubles, the draw consists of 16 teams, two of which enter through wild cards.
A conventional best of three sets format is followed. To win a set, a player needs to win six games with a difference of two games. However, if the set is tied at six games apiece, then a tiebreak follows. The player who is first to seven points with a difference of two in the tiebreak, wins the set. In doubles, a third set is a match tiebreak. The doubles team who wins ten points first with a difference of two is declared the winner of the match.
The victorious singles player and the champion doubles team gets 250 ranking points each. The runners-up of both singles and doubles get 165 and 150 points respectively. As of 2024, the total prize purse of the event is €579,320. The singles champion takes home €88,125, whereas the champion doubles team gets €30,610.
Guillermo Vilas is the most successful singles player of the Open Era, winning four titles at the event. Alexander Erler has won the most doubles titles at his home event; his current tally being three titles.
