It looked like goodnight Vienna for Alex de Minaur as he trailed Tomas Machac by a set, a break and 0-30 on his own mis-firing serve.
Machac, a top 20 player last year, was fizzing winners onto the lines and Australia's No.1 seemed to have no answer to his excellence.
The Czech was six points from victory and de Minaur's chances of making the end-of-season ATP Finals were receding rapidly, as a first round exit loomed in the Austrian capital.
