Clinical Millman beats Mannarino for breakthrough ATP triumph

 Clinical Millman beats Mannarino for breakthrough ATP triumph

John Millman has the first ATP Tour title of his career after beating Adrian Mannarino 7-5 6-1 at the Astana Open.

This has been a tough season for the Australian, who had not managed to wins at the same Tour-level event since the Australian Open until this week.

But a string of impressive results against Fernando Verdasco, Tommy Paul and then Frances Tiafoe secured a final meeting with Mannarino.

The Frenchman's 2020 struggles have been even more stark, taking a 6-14 record to Kazakhstan, and he proved an accommodating opponent for Millman, failing to take his opportunities.

Five break points came and went for Mannarino in the first set before Millman broke at the first attempt to take the opener.

Mannarino then offered little resistance in the second, waiting until the final game to squander his sixth and last chance as Millman claimed a straight-sets win.

Rublev to face off against Sonego in Vienna Open final

Andrey Rublev has the chance to win his fifth ATP Tour title of the season on Sunday after Kevin Anderson retired hurt in their Vienna Open semi-final clash.

Rublev was leading 6-4 6-1 when Anderson pulled out with a leg injury, which had earlier led to a medical timeout for treatment.

The Russian, who has won 18 of his past 19 matches, will take on Lorenzo Sonego in Sunday's final, the Italian following up his stunning quarter-final victory over Novak Djokovic with a 6-3 6-4 win over Dan Evans.

Rublev is on the brink of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals in London next month, but the 23-year-old insists he is not setting any expectations and simply wants to continue with the relaxed approach that has served him so well in 2020.

"I don't know why it's going so well," he said. "I have such an amazing team and such amazing friends around me that always support me. That's probably why I'm playing so well.

"I came here thinking that I have nothing to lose. I have already played a really great season, so I came here to enjoy it, do my best, fight for every point and now here I am in the final.

"I want to keep thinking the same way and we'll see what's going to happen tomorrow."

Sonego, meanwhile, admits he can scarcely believe he made the final after initially losing in the final round of qualifying against Aljaz Bedene, only to get into the main draw once Diego Schwartzman withdrew.

He becomes the first lucky loser to reach the Vienna Open final since Andreas Haider-Maurer in 2010.

"It's amazing," Sonego said. "I started this tournament [by losing] in the qualifiers. It's not easy after losing my [qualifying] match to win four matches and now I got to the final.

"I don't have any expectations. I go with confidence and I [will] try to do my best tomorrow."