Lucas Miedler remains in contention to successfully defend his doubles title at the Erste Bank Open. After winning last year’s edition (then alongside Alexander Erler), the Lower Austrian once again reached the final on Saturday – this time with his new partner Francisco Cabral (POR). The championship match will be played on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. on Centre Court at the Wiener Stadthalle.

In the semifinal, played at the Marx Halle, the duo defeated the Indian-Swedish pair Bhambri/Goransson 6–4, 7–6 (5). The match point itself was a little unusual – Miedler’s backhand return just caught the line. After a moment of silence as everyone waited for a possible “out” call, the referee ended the match with the words, “Game, set, match.”

“I wasn’t sure at first because everyone was looking so strangely,” Miedler admitted afterward. “Before the match point, I told my partner, ‘We go big or we go home.’ In the end, that’s exactly what I did – you can’t hit the ball any better.”

Looking ahead to the final, Miedler wants to “finish the job.” He added, “No matter what happens tomorrow, it’s been a really good week. I just love playing in Austria and in front of the home crowd. The fact that I always seem to play my best tennis here – I don’t even question it.”

His anticipation for the final on Centre Court is clear: “It feels really good,” said Miedler with a smile. “The Stadthalle is just the Stadthalle.”

In the finals they will meet this year's Wimbledon winners Cash/Glaspool, who eliminated the Australian Open champions Heliovaara/Patten 4-6, 6-3- 10-5.