Jannik Sinner Reaches Semi-Finals in Erste Bank Open, Faces Andrey Rublev

With Jannik Sinner, a South Tyrolean made it to the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open in the Wiener Stadthalle on Friday evening.

The second-seeded Italian confidently defeated the American Frances Tiafoe, Vienna finalist in 2021, in two sets 6:3, 6:4.

Sinner now has to deal with the third-ranked Russian Andrey Rublev, who prevailed in a high-class duel against the German Alexander Zverev 6:1, 6:7 (5), 6:3.

The second semi-final will be contested by defending champion Daniil Medvedev and Thiem’s ​​conqueror Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Medvevev with 5th win in 6th game against Khachanov

For the 27-year-old Medvedev, it was his fifth victory in the sixth duel with Khachanov. “I’m playing well, I’m happy with my win. It was a crazy game. One break in each set decided,” was Medvedev’s first comment on the court. The world number three has now equaled his 63rd victory this year and his personal best from 2021. “It’s not that important to me, but it’s a good sign. This number means you had a good year, hopefully I can keep pushing it higher in the next few years.”

Medvedev is still on course for his 21st title. By the way, the Russian has won all 20 of them so far at different venues, and in Vienna he is hoping for his first successful title defense ever. It would be his sixth tournament triumph this year after Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai, Miami and Rome (first clay court title).

Afterwards, Tsitsipas, who qualified for the semifinals in Vienna for the first time, won in two sets, but the match was closer. He was already leading 4-2 in the first set, but then had to go into a tiebreak. The world number 7 ended up in this. trailing 3-0 before winning 7-4. And in the second round he managed to break to 6:5, but then had to fend off three break points before he was out.

“I don’t know how I did the last game. It was a very intense match and not easy to get through the tight moments. It was fantastic to come back, it was an incredible fight from me,” the Greek explained to the enthusiastic crowd , again over 9,000 fans.

Tsitsipas is playing against Medvedev for the 13th time and the Russian is more than just ahead at 8:4. “We’ve had a lot of matches on all surfaces. He’s a very good player on all surfaces. I have to be ready to run a lot and give everything against him,” said Tsitsipas about the semi-final duel. Incidentally, his girlfriend Paula Badosa, herself a world-class player, will also be coming to Vienna. That was the deal beforehand. The ex-number two from Spain has been recovering from a stress fracture since her Wimbledon appearance.

Weissborn out

From an Austrian perspective, the tournament is now finally over because the last domestic player in the doubles, Sam Weissborn, has been eliminated. Alongside his Monegasque partner Romain Arneodo, with whom he sensationally reached the final in Monte Carlo this year, the recently 32-year-old Viennese had to admit defeat in the quarter-finals. The duo lost to the number two seeded team Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury (USA/GBR) 3:6.6:7(7). Arneodo/Weissborn missed a set point in the tiebreak.

From Skoff to Thiem: All Vienna winners since 1988

2023-10-27 21:20:15
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