2011 Davis Cup: Austria to play France in aircraft hangar

In the opening round tie of the 2011 Davis Cup, Austria will play France on a clay court in an aircraft hangar at Austria’s main airport.

The hanger is being used for maintenance of a Boeing 747 but for the tennis event will be transformed into a 6,000-capacity tennis stadium.

“It will be really cool to play there,” Jurgen Melzer said. “A lot of fans can get in so we hope to put on a good show.”

“Ronnie Leitgeb (Melzer’s manager) came up with the idea. … It’s a unique project,” federation vice president Helmut Dorn said. “We are glad to fulfill the players’ wish to get the match staged near Vienna.”

“At Flushing Meadows, planes fly over your head all the time,” Melzer said. “I hope our fans will be loud enough so we won’t hear any planes.”

According to Melzer, clay will be “definitely the best choice” for a surface to take on France.

“They have several good clay-court players but they have even more good hard-court players to choose from,” Melzer added.