Chela, Lopez headline field in Kitzbuhel

Veterans Juan Ignacio Chela and Feliciano Lopez return to clay-court action for the first week of August, as they top a 28-player draw at the Bet-At-Home-Cup in Kitzbuhel, Austria. World No. 21 Juan Ignacio Chela leads the top half of the draw that hosts: (4) Fabio Fognini, (5) Philipp Kohlschreiber and (7) Marcel Granollers. Additional players in the Argentine’s half are Filippo Volandri, Santiago Giraldo, Albert Montanes and former French Open champion Thomas Muster.

After an opening-round bye, Chela is slated to begin his run against either Daniel Gimeno-Traver or hometown wildcard Dominic thiem. The closest seed to the Argentine is Granollers, who captured the Gstaad title over Fernando Verdasco on Sunday. Successful movement through the draw may set a semifinal clash with Kohlschreiber or Fognini.

Second seed Feliciano Lopez has been placed in the same half as (3) Ivan Ljubicic, (6) Andreas Seppi and (8) Pablo Andujar. Other challengers in the section include: Igor Andreev, Denis Istomin, Victor Hanescu and Robin Haase.

Lopez will have a first-round bye, then contest his opener against Haase, who passed into round two by virtue of Potito Starace’s retirement.