For all three Austrians the qualification for the ATP tournament in Vienna has already ended. Ruben Bemelmans defeated Sebastian Ofner in three sets, while Lucas Miedler’s defeat of birthday boy Andrey Rublev was the final destination. Jurij Rodionov also had to pack his bags.
Nikolaus Fink reports from the Vienna Stadthalle
Miedler didn’t stand a chance against Rublev at all and clearly lost 1:6 and 2:6. Only at the score of 1:1 in the second set did the 22-year-old Austrian find two break chances, but the Russian could destroy both of them.
After that, everything was back to normal. Rublev dominated with his forehand and made the entry into the second qualifying round perfect after only 53 minutes. In this one he meets Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ).
After the match Rublev was surprised by the tournament management with a birthday cake. The native Muscovite celebrates his 21st birthday within the framework of the Stadthallen tournament.
Ruben Bemelmans also has reason to celebrate. The Belgian celebrated a three-set victory over the Austrian Sebastian Ofner in the first round of qualifying.
In the first set Ofner had to fight hard before he could win the round 6:3. The 22-year-old had to fend off both his opponent’s 2-2 and 4-2 break points before winning the first section.
Also in the second set the numerous spectators saw a duel at eye level, but this time Bemelmans decided the important points for himself and sent the clash after a 6:3 into the third set.
There Ofner was confronted with a 0:30 score at 2:2, but with three aces Falco’s successor was impressively drawn out of the predicament.
A little later, however, he suffered a service loss and Bemelmans broke to 5-4 with an excellent half volley stop ball. The 30-year-old then served to zero.
Thus, no Austrian will be represented in the qualification final on Sunday. Beside Ofner and Miedler also Jurij Rodionov failed already on Saturday. He was defeated by the top seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert clearly in two sentences.
The Qualification Tableau
The Main Field Tableau