Andrei Rublev ended his participation in the hard court tournament in Vienna after his first match. The Russian, who is ranked 22nd in the world, lost to American Tommy Paul 7:5, 6:2 after an hour and 31 minutes of play.
Paul, who is No. 14 in the world and seventh seed in the competition, controlled the key moments and managed to close the match in two sets. Thus, the American recorded his second victory against Rublev in the seventh match between them at the professional level. The two had not played against each other since 2023.
For the Russian tennis player, this is the third consecutive disappointing elimination in his first match at a tournament. Before the competition in Vienna, Rublev failed to make it far in both Almaty and Shanghai.
In the next round, Tommy Paul will face Italian Luciano Darderi, who is ranked 23rd in the world. The upcoming clash will be the fourth between the two, with the American having won two matches so far.