Former Vienna Open champion Andrey Rublev is looking every bit of the new Vienna Open champion with the way he managed to fight against Alexander Zverev.
Both Rublev and Zverev won this ATP 500 event in the past, and both love to play in the Austrian capital. Rublev looked really good in his first two matches, but he didn't look as good as in the opening set against Zverev.
The German had some solid performances as well, but his form lately hasn't been as good as that of Rublev. The difference was glaring in the opening set as it wasn't close.
The Russian dominated in the rallies, and even Zverev's serve couldn't help him much. 6-1 was the score for Rublev in the opening set, and he had a chance to break early in the second set but didn't get it done.
The German found a solid rhythm, especially from the serve, which allowed him to cruise through his service games relatively comfortably. Rublev wasn't really that much worse, but he did miss a bit more than in the previous set.
Still, his level at the start of the tie-break was too good as he jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Yet, the crucial sequence in the tie-break was a spectacular backhand passing shot by Zverev, which gave him a mini-break.
It was the type of shot only he or potentially Medvedev could hit, and it essentially won him the tie-break. Despite pulling out that tie-break, Zverev faced a furious Rublev in the third set, and nobody channels anger as well as Rublev.
He jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and almost made it 4-0, but Zverev managed to avoid a bagel. It didn't help him much in the end as Rublev calmly cruised to the finish line, advancing to the semi-final, where he'll play either Jannik Sinner or Frances Tiafoe. The final score was 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3.
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