Inside the historic new venue of the Bank One Open | ATP Tour

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From cattle market to ATP Tour tennis: inside Vienna’s historic new venue

The Austrian capital Marx-Halle hosted the second and third ATP 500 events this year

October 26, 2025

When it comes to the next big move for the Bank One Open’s future, the team behind the ATP 500 dug deep into Vienna’s past.

A unique indoor hard-court event held at two venues, this year’s First Bank Open features a new venue: the historic Marx Hall, a building that served as the Austrian capital’s main cattle market for 120 years before being repurposed as an event venue.

Over the past 10 days, Max Halle has hosted the singles and doubles qualifying and main draw matches of the Bank One Open. For tournament director Herwig Straka, the new venue is a high-quality addition that perfectly complements the tournament’s long-term centerpiece venue, the Wiener Stadthalle, where Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev will play out in a blockbuster championship match on Sunday.

“We found Marx-Halle, which we knew was a great location because it had enough space,” Straka told ATPTour.com when asked about his tournament’s motivation for building a new second venue. “It was the same conditions as the Stadthalle and we could do what we’ve always wanted to do: expand and host events for children and families. We then turned that into an idea for fans. [being able to purchase] A ground ticket. ”

For the first four editions of the First Bank Open, the second venue for the tournament was a temporary building on the Heumarkt Square in the heart of Vienna. Straka said the move to Marx Hall was motivated by a clear set of goals, and the feedback he received throughout the competition indicated that he and his team had achieved those goals.

“[The clearest improvement] “The most important thing is the number of pitches,” said Straka of the Max Halle Stadium, which has two competition pitches and a practice pitch and can accommodate up to 25,000 fans. “There is now the option of hosting professional level wheelchair events. Maybe in the future we can add more events. It’s the space, it’s the real indoor playing conditions. That’s the main difference and improvement [from the Heumarkt]”.

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Top seed Jannik Sinner practices at Marx-Halle during the 2025 Bank One Open. Image source: e-motion/Stefan Strasser

PIF ATP Ranking 16 Alexander Bublik and other top 40 stars Francisco Cerundolo, Flavio Cobolli, Tomas Machac, Alex Michelsen and Corentin Moutet all played singles matches at Max Halle last week. It is also the primary practice facility for all players competing in the ATP 500 tournament.

“We want to improve the quality of our players [with our new venue]”, Straka said, “The one-on-one feeling was just like in Stadthalle. We received very good feedback. All the players, Jannik, Sasha, have trained there. That’s the feeling we wanted to create, and we succeeded. ”

In addition to ensuring players are catered for, Straka’s other major consideration when planning Max Halle Arena was serving visiting fans. He sees the more “personal,” up-close experience that tennis fans can get as a clear plus.

“Fans can get very close to the top players and breathe in and feel it more than they would on a major center court,” Straka said. “The energy of the players and their game, even in training. There are a lot of tennis fans there and they are all actively playing, so for them just watching Janik train is a great experience.

“I’m very proud of the City Tennis concept [from previous years]but at some stage you need to prepare for the next step and improve. This is the next step. ”

Fans can get an up-close look at the practice field at Marx Hall. Image source: e-motion/Stefan Strasser