Jannik Sinner edged past Andrey Rublev 7-5 7-6 (7-5) in 1 hour and 52 minutes to clinch his 55th match win of the 2023 season.
Sinner becomes the first Italian player in the Open Era since 1968 to earn 55 wins in a season, overtaking Corrado Barazzutti, who won 54 matches in 1978.
Sinner improved to 4-2 in his head-to-head series against Rublev.
Rublev, who won the Vienna title in 2020, converted his converted his second break point in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. Sinner broke back in the ninth game, as Rublev was serving for the set at 5-4. Sinner broke for the second time in the 11th game before holding serve to close out the first set 7-5.
The second set went on serve with no break points until 4-4. Sinner broke serve in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead. Rublev converted his fourth break-back point to draw level to 5-5. Rublev went up a 4-2 lead with a mini-break. Sinner earned his second mini-break on his first match point after a double fault from Rublev to set up his second final of the season in an ATP 500 tournament against Danil Medvedev.
Sinner is aiming to win his fourth title of the season following his triumphs in Montpellier, Toronto and Beijing.
Sinner finished the match with 11 winners to 7 unforced errors.
