Edmond loses out in Vienna semi-final
British No. 3 Kyle Edmund was left to rue a lapse in concentration as he lost out to France’s Lucas Pouille in the semi-finals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna yesterday.
Edmund, playing in a tournament won by Andy Murray last year, took the opening set on a tie-break, but Pouille hit back to win a hard-fought contest 6-7 (7/9) 6-4 6-3 in two hours and 17 minutes.
Pouille had to save six break points in the opening set before racing into a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak, the 23-year-old producing a brilliant backhand return winner down the line and benefiting from a double fault from his opponent.
Edmund refused to throw in the towel and saved two set points before taking the tie-break 9-7 to move within a set of reaching his first final at ATP World Tour level.
However, the 22-year-old promptly dropped his serve at the start of the second to allow Pouille back into the match and two more breaks in the decider sealed the outcome.
Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki survived a “crazy” opening set to reach the WTA Finals title match in Singapore after a hard-fought victory over Karolina Pliskova yesterday.
Wozniacki saved three set points in the 10th game of the match and three more after squandering a 6-1 lead in the tie-break, before eventually taking it 11-9 after an hour and 20 minutes.
The two players then traded breaks at the start of the second set before Wozniacki made a decisive move. The Dane broke to love in the eighth game and served out for a 7-6 (11/9) 6-3 win over her Czech opponent.
Wozniacki will face Venus Williams in today’s final after the American came from a set down to beat France’s Caroline Garcia in a match lasting a minute shy of twoand-a-half hours.