VIENNA, October 26, 2017
The home campaigns of two Austrians came to a sudden close in the second round of the Erste Bank Open 500 on Austria’s National Day in Vienna. Dominic Thiem was trying to reach his second quarterfinal at the Stadthalle but lost to Richard Gasquet of France 6-4, 5-7, 1-6.
Gasquet, who is making his first Vienna appearance since falling to Roddick in the second round in 2006, won 79 per cent of his first service points and broke serve three times t prevail after two hours and 22 minutes. The 31-year-old Frenchman will next face compatriot Lucas Pouille.
Thiem (🎥@TennisTV ) pic.twitter.com/c3gi28EWzR
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) 26. Oktober 2017
The run of Austria’s qualifier Dennis Novak was stopped by Kyle Edmund. The 22-year-old Briton won three thrilling tie-breaks, winning 12 points more than his opponent to seal a 7-6, 6-7, 7-6 victory in just under three hours of play.
“Of course I am dissapointed right now,” Novak told after the fight. “It was a long and close match. Unfortunately, I made a couple of wrong decisions in the tie-break of the final set, which made me lose the match.”
Edmund will meet Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarterfinals. The 27-year-old German battled past Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6, 2-6, 7-6. The encounter lasted two hours and 34 minutes.
In the opening match of the day, fourth seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain fell to Argentina Diego Schwartzman 7-5, 1-6, 1-6. In a topsy turvy encounter, the 26-year-old from Buenos Aires won 55 per cent of the total points played to prevail after two hours and three minutes. Schwartzman will next play Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.
