Novak and Misolek also continue.

Misulic wins and wants more

“Unfortunately, last year I was eliminated here in the quarter-finals, maybe I can top that this year!” laughed Misulic (ATP 228), who came on as a substitute, after a hard-fought 7:6 (5), 7:5 against German qualifier Tim Handl (ATP 453). “I'm happy that I won. So it's always special to be able to play in front of your home fans. I also want to give people something to have fun with. I think there were some attractive points today,” said the 23-year-old from Graz, who was particularly annoyed by “these ups and downs” in his game.

He has been working on it since mid-April with his new coach Velimir Zovko, who is also Croatia's Davis Cup captain and has been watching his pupil like a hawk from the stands at Sportaktivpark Bad Waltersdorf. “I will ask my coach what he has to say about my performance today. I always try to do my best and improve. The fact that he has been playing and training here with his Davis Cup teammates since last week is a big 'advantage'. “We players have everything we could wish for here, and the organisers are doing their best to ensure that we have good training conditions and have a good time together.”

Laslo Djere is Misulic's next opponent on Thursday (not before 1:00 p.m.) on Centre Court. The Serbian (ATP 119), seeded sixth, defeated the winner of the British Tulane Championships Jan Chojnski (ATP 173), who had to qualify in Bad Waltersdorf, 7:6 (4), 0:6, in the first round. “He used to be No. 27 in the world, but this year at the US Open he defeated Jan-Lennard Struff, currently No. 35 in the world, in the first round. I know what's coming for me. My coach will analyze it carefully and I will give everything on the court tomorrow.

Pichler lost after 3:13 hours of the marathon.

There was a marathon match on Centre Court to start the day. David Pichler (ATP 606), who was the only Austrian to qualify, brought Frenchman Jeffrey Blancaneau (ATP 247), who was 359 places above him, to the brink of defeat several times. The 28-year-old from Burgenland, who from now on wants to focus more on doubles, preferably with compatriot Yuri Rodionov, forced the two-time Challenger winner from Paris into tiebreaks twice. After 3:13 hours of play, the red-white-red outsider had to bow out 7:6 (4), 6:7 (6), 4:6. Having won the first set 3-0, Pichler was already on his way to victory in the second round, serving the match 5-3 and was just two points away from winning 6-6 in the tiebreak.

Pichler also had to say goodbye to the doubles competition. He and Romanian Alexandru Gecan lost in the first round to top seeds Guido Andreozzi (Argentina) and N. Sriram Balaji (India) 3:6, 4:6. Davis Cup star Lucas Medler and German Daniel Masur previously won the Austrian duel with Neil Oberleitner and Joel Schwarzler 7:6(5), 7:6(5). The latter had his chances in both sets, but failed to make it 6:5 and 15:0 with a break in the first set, plus two set points at 5:4 and 30:40 as setbacks in the second round. Medler and Masur now compete with fourth-seeded Czechs Petr Noza and Patrick Reckl. Medler did not receive any further reinforcements in red-white-red in the quarterfinals, as Gerald Melzer and Davis Cup debutant Lucas Neumayer were also eliminated in the evening. The two lost to Spaniard Javier Barranco Cusano and American Nicolas Moreno de Alboran 4:6, 7:5, 5:10 in the match tiebreak.

Next Austria hat-trick on the main pitch

On Thursday, the match between Tyrolean Kopp (ATP 352) and second seeded Brazilian Thiago Monteiro (ATP 76) starts on Centre Court at 10:00 a.m. At 1:00 p.m. there will be a duel between Misulic and Jiri, followed by Novak against Munar.

From 12:55 p.m., there will be a daily live broadcast of the BAD WALTERSDORF Cup on ORF SPORT+, with Alexander Pia as co-commentator. All matches on the main court will also be broadcast live on ÖTV every day from 10:00 a.m. www.oetv.tv streaming.