After a withdrawal due to injury by Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, Dominic Thiem advanced to the Erste Bank Open semifinals for the first time. At 5-0 Thiem, Carreno Busta called the physio on the court and withdrew with a lower back injury shortly after.
“It is always unpleasant when your opponent has to retire due to an injury”, Thiem said after the match. “Everybody has come to see a great match and I think our matches till now have all been very good and on a high level. But I could see right away that something was not right. It got worse and worse and there was a point when I was sure that he won’t be able to finish the match. It’s a pity for him and sad for the fans. But it’s not my fault and I’m okay with getting to the semis.”
In the semifinals he will face Italian Matteo Berrettini. The tournament’s number 3 ousted Russian Andrey Rublev in two close sets in the first quarterfinal of the day. Berrettini got one break in the first set to take it 7-5, while the second set went all the way to the tiebreak where Berrettini kept the upper hand 7-4.