Diego Schwartzman routs Monfils for biggest hard-court final

The 5th seed Diego Schwartzman is through to his seventh ATP final overall and the most significant one on hard courts in Vienna, toppling the 4th seed Gael Monfils 6-3, 6-2 in an hour and 14 minutes. It was their fourth meeting and the second win for the Argentine who lost 15 points in eight service games, fending off all four break chances offered to Monfils and grabbing four breaks that carried him over the finish line.

The Frenchman sprayed too many errors, struggling on both the first and second serve and not being able to impose his shots and move the opponent from the comfort zone. Monfils sent a backhand long in the third game to give serve away, confirming the break with a service winner and facing three break points at 3-2.

Gael failed to seize any of those, hitting another backhand error that pushed Schwartzman 4-2 in front before the Argentine closed the eighth game with a forehand winner to extend the advantage. Serving to stay in the set, Monfils placed another tired forehand beyond the baseline to suffer a break that propelled Schwartzman over the finish line in the first part of the encounter.

With the momentum on his side, Diego held with ease at the beginning of the second set and wasted two break chances in game two before having to play against a break point in the next game, erasing it after another loose groundstroke from Monfils who was miles from his best.

The Argentine shifted into a higher gear in the second part of the set, earning a break at 3-2 after forcing an error from the opponent and sealing the deal with another one in the eighth game to move over the top and set the final clash against Dominic Thiem.