Britain’s Cameron Norrie sealed an impressive 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 victory over former champion Andrey Rublev in his opening match at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.
Norrie recorded his fourth win against top-20 opposition in 2025, with Rublev suffering his fifth straight defeat as well as a mid-match meltdown – just a day after his 28th birthday.
British No. 2 Norrie got off to a flying start, breaking her opponent twice in the first five games as the seventh seed eventually lost her temper and repeatedly smashed her racquet on the court.
“Signature racket breaking from Andrey Rublev. Not the first time he’s ruined a bat. He’s given it the full monty,” said commentator Robbie Koenig.
Rublev was hit with a code violation by the umpire and went on to drop the first set before winning a tense tie-break in the second set to force a decider.
But it was Norrie who set the pace and ran away with the third set, securing an impressive victory and a place in the second round of the ATP 500 event.
Norrie will face either Alexei Popyrin or Matteo Berrettini in the next round, with the pair due to meet on Wednesday.
Fearnley was beaten by Zverev in the deciding tiebreak
Jacob Fearnley came extremely close to becoming the second Briton to cause an upset on Tuesday but ultimately lost an epic contest 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-5) to second seed Alexander Zverev.
Fearnley gave up the only break of serve of the first set in the opening game of the match as Zverev remained comfortable with his own delivery to advance.
However, the Briton would hit back with two breaks of serve in a brilliant second set display to force a decider.
The only break point in the final set came with Fearnley serving to stay in the match at 4-5, the Brit bravely denying Zverev before going on to force a crucial tie-break.
Zverev raced into a 5-1 lead and, despite Fearnley saving three more match points to add to the tension, the German eventually closed out the match to set up a second-round meeting with Italian qualifier Matteo Arnaldi.
Sinder is skipping the Davis Cup to focus on Australian Open preparations
Jannik Sinner said it was a difficult decision to miss this year’s Davis Cup finals on home soil, but the world No.2 felt he had to prioritize preparations for his Australian Open title defence.
The 24-year-old, who won at Melbourne Park and Wimbledon this year, was instrumental in Italy’s successful Davis Cup defense in 2024 in Spain but said he was out of the tournament, due to take place in Bologna from 18-23. November.
He will be in Turin a week before the Davis Cup to defend his ATP Finals title, where world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz has also secured his place in the season-ending championship.
“It wasn’t an easy decision, but after Turin the aim is to get off on the right foot in Australia,” Sinner said. Sky Sports Italy. “It may not seem like it, but a week’s preparation during that period can make all the difference.
“We won the Davis Cup in 2023 and 2024 and this time we decided this with my team.”
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Highlights as Sinner defeated Learner Tien to win the China Open
Next year’s Australian Open, the opening Grand Slam of the season, runs from 12-26. January.
Sinner beat Alcaraz to win the lucrative Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Riyadh on Saturday and will next be in action in Vienna, which he won in 2023.
“We work hard on my serve. I’m lucky to be able to work continuously with the best possible team,” he said. “I now have some very important tournaments coming up, in Vienna, Paris and Turin.”
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