In front of a sold out stadium, the fans were treated to some big surprises when Andrey Rublev, the tournament’s number 3, was quickly eliminated. Stefanos Tsitsipas, the number 2 seed, went out with a fight, but went out he did.
In the first match on the centercourt, 31-year-old Grigor Dimitrov (BUL/ATP 32) proved too clever for Rublev, who won the title in Vienna two years ago. Dimitrov only needed 71 minutes to dispatch Rublev 6-3, 6-4 and only for the second time in his career made it into the quarter-finals of the Erste Bank Open.
Coric stuns Tsitsipas
In the final match of the day it was Cincinnati winner Borna Coric (CRO) who made for a big upset when he turned the match against Stefanos Tsitsipas. While the Greek took the first set, Coric fought back to clinch the next two sets and the match 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
Italian Jannik Sinner (6) had no problems in his 7-5, 6-3 win over Francisco Cerundolo (ARG/ATP 29).
At Erste Bank Open 2 Go at the Heumarkt, Marcos Giron (USA/ATP 58) took ten minutes longer to oust Cameron Norrie, but still with exact the same result 6-3, 6-4. For Giron it means his maiden quarter-finals in Vienna in his debut in Austria’s capital, while Norrie couldn’t make it past the second round in his fourth try.
Number 5 seed Hubert Hurkacz (POL) needed three sets to beat Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 and advance to the quarter-finals.