Andrey Rublev advances to Vienna Open final after opponent injures thigh
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Andrey Rublev advanced to his fifth final of the season Saturday after Kevin Anderson pulled out in the second set of their semifinal at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
The fifth-seeded Rublev led 6-4, 4-1 when Anderson quit the match with a right thigh issue.
In Sunday’s final, Rublev will play Daniel Evans or Lorenzo Sonego, who beat Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-1 in Friday’s quarter-finals.
Anderson, who won the event in 2018, wore tape on his thigh from the start of the match. He first got a medical timeout after losing the opening game of the second set and asked for treatment again at 3-0 before playing just two more games.
It was the second time this week that Rublev’s opponent quit their match, after Jannik Sinner pulled out after three games with a foot injury in the second round.
‘I came here to fight for every point’
The eighth-ranked Rublev is 4-0 in finals in this shortened season and can become the first player with five tournament wins.
Coming off back-to-back wins in Hamburg and St. Petersburg, Rublev improved to 18-1 in his last four events.
“I came here thinking I had nothing to lose,” Rublev said. “I came here to enjoy, to do my best, to fight for every point every match. Now I am in the final, I will keep thinking the same way.”
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In the opening set, Rublev and Anderson eased through their service games until 5-4, when Anderson held off two break points before double-faulting on a third.
Rublev, who served 11 aces, has not lost a service game all tournament.
After undergoing knee surgery twice, Anderson was seeking his first final since earning his sixth career title in Pune, India, in January 2019.
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