The first finalist of this year’s Erste Bank Open is Andrey Rublev. The young Russian was made life easier on the court because of a leg injury of Kevin Anderson (RSA) who had to withdraw due to an inury with Rublev leading 6-4, 4-1.
In the first set, both players held their service until 5-4 Rublev and Anderson to serve. All of a sudden, the South African started to produce only second serves and handed his opponent the break and the set with a double fault of all things.
Things got even worse in the second set when Anderson had to take a medical time out with Rublev leading 1-0. After the break, Anderson immediately lost his serve again and had to be treated for a second time in the next exchange. With 4-1 for Rublev, Anderson had enough and gave up. Rublev advances to his first Vienna final.