The red hot Rublev continued his stellar run in Vienna today beating the native
Dominic Thiem in straight sets.
It was a stellar display from the Russian who is in great form today in Vienna which allowed him to move to the Erste Bank Open semifinal. It took him just over an hour and a half to defeat the Austrian 7-6(5) 6-2. The start of the match was a bit shaky from Rublev who had some early issues on his own serve with Thiem being very aggressive hitting some impressive shots early. The Russian survived those early struggles and when he finally settled he never looked back. Both of them looked impressive in the opening set winning their service games practically without dropping a point. We arrived quickly in a tiebreak where both continued their stellar play. Rublev somehow won a point on Thiem's serve and that was all he needed to win it 7-5.
The 2nd set is where Rublev showed all his might. Lifted by his first set victory he started playing even more comfortable and aggressive to which the Austrian had no response. Thiem struggled to fend off the Russian in rallies and as they went on the Russian grew more and more confident. He broke him early in the set with stellar and play and added another one later and it was clear he was marching on towards the semifinal. Thiem similar to the Viennese crowd had a confused expression on his face but his agony quickly ended with Rublev winning the set 6-2.
A stunning display from the Russian who crushed Thiem in the 2nd set and moved towards the semifinal where he will eye yet another final in his breakout year. This victory gives him a chance to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals where he will have chances considering his form.