Andrey Rublev beat Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 to reach the second round at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. Rublev converted four of his seven break points he earned.
Rublev went up a break twice at 2-0 and at 4-2 in the opening set. Popyrin pulled back on serve both times to draw level to 4-4.
Popyrin earned his third break to take a 5-4 lead. Rublev broke straight back to draw level to 5-5 to force the match to the tie-break. Popyrin opened up a 4-0 lead with a double mini-break, but Rublev reeled off five points from 2-5 down with three mini-breaks to close out the tie-break 7-5.
Rublev earned his only break of the second set in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. The Russian player held on his serve and served out the win on his first match point after 97 minutes.
Rublev is currently fifth in the ATP Live to Turn and needs one more win against Matteo Arnaldi to secure his spot in the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth consecutive year.
Rublev has won five ATP 500 titles in his career, including his triumph in Vienna in 2020.
“I don’t know how I won the first set. I was super lucky. It was my mistake. I was 4-2 and I had an easy ball and I played it where he was and he passed me. From that moment the match started to change and he was 5-4 up with a break. Somehow I was able to stay there and I was able to turn it around. Every match you feel you are one step closer. Every win, every day. The door is open and I see what is inside, but I am not inside the room yet”, said Rublev.
Frances Tiafoe advanced to the second round after Daniel Evans retired from their match. Evans was leading 4-1 in their third head-to-head match of the season when he aggravated his right calve muscle. This year’s Australian Open Tommy Paul cruised through to a 6-3 6-1 win over Alexandre Muller. Paul set up a second round match against either Aslan Karatsev or Borna Gojo.
