ATP Vienna: In-form Andrey Rublev dethrones Dominic Thiem in straight sets

The 23-year-old Andrey Rublev is through to the semi-final in Vienna, ousting the defending champion Dominic Thiem 7-6, 6-2 in an hour and 34 minutes. The Moscow native is through to his fifth ATP semi-final of the season, winning the title on the previous four occasions and hoping for the third straight ATP 500 trophy after Hamburg and St. Petersburg. Rublev grabbed the 37th victory from 44 encounters in 2020, making the best possible season restart in August and winning 23 of the last 27 matches to follow Novak Djokovic's pace. In their first match since Hamburg 2019, Andrey scored the second straight triumph over Dominic, defending two break chances in the opener and storming over the home favorite in set number two to advance into the last four. Dominic played well in the first set, producing six comfortable holds and losing the tie break after one mini-break from Andrey in the late stages, losing momentum after that and propelling the Russian through.

Rublev had 30 winners and 20 unforced errors, leaving Thiem on 21 winners and 17 mistakes and carving his way towards the next round. Andrey held at love with an ace in the first game, fending off two break chances at 1-1 with service winners to avoid an early setback. From 30-0 down, Dominic fired booming serves to bring the sixth game home before Andrey landed a forehand winner to move 4-3 in front. Thiem responded with a hold at love in game eight, hitting a backhand down the line winner to secure the game and send pressure to the other side.

Andrey Rublev scored the second consecutive victory over Dominic Thiem.

With no sign of nerves, Rublev placed a backhand down the line winner for a hold at love and a 5-4 advantage, with three commanding holds on both sides that led them into a tie break. The Austrian opened a 4-3 lead in the breaker with a backhand down the line winner, missing his chances on the return in the next two points to keep the Russian in.

The only mini-break came in the tenth point when Thiem sent a forehand long, allowing Rublev to seal the set with an ace in the 12th point. Andrey grabbed the first break of the match with a forehand winner in the third game of the second set. The youngster cemented the advantage with a service winner a few minutes later and clinched another break following Thiem's double fault to move 4-1 up. Struggling with some pain in his foot, Dominic saved a match point in the seventh game before Andrey fired four service winners at 5-2 to seal the deal and remain on the title course.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2TCNXuX