Tennis
You can sit! Rublev pulled out a dead match and cried
Photo: © REUTERS / Eric Gaillard
Andrey finally won the title of the Masters series tournament. And he did it in a real thriller.
Russian tennis player Andrei Rublev won the Masters for the first time in his career. In the final of the clay tournament in Monte Carlo, he beat Dane Holger Rune with a score of 5:7, 6:2, 7:5.
And he did it in a crazy ending!
Tough week
Having received the fifth seed, Andrey started immediately from the second round. In the first match, he beat Spaniard Jaume Munar in three sets. Then the Russian Karen Khachanov imposed a fight on him. And let Rublev win in two sets, but he spent enough energy.
The quarter-final meeting with Jan-Lennard Struff was also not without difficulty for Andrey. The German had every chance to transfer the game to the third set, and who knows how it would have turned out in the end, but the Russian tennis player still got his way – 6:1, 7:6 (7:5). The semi-final turned out to be three sets: in it, Rublev, losing, pulled out a victory from Taylor Fritz from the USA – 5:7, 6:1, 6:3.
Three matches out of four
Holger Rune, already known as the “king of outrageousness and scandals”, was seeded in Monte Carlo under the sixth number. On the way to the decisive meeting, he beat the Austrian Dominik Thiem, the Russian Daniil Medvedev and the representative of Italy Yannick Sinner. In the 1/8 finals, the 19-year-old Dane was supposed to play with another Italian Matteo Berrettini, but he withdrew due to a tear in the oblique abdominal muscles.
At the same time, only one match for Rune turned out to be a three-set match: Sinner imposed the maximum fight on him in the semifinals. The rest of the meetings, including with Medvedev, the Dane played very confidently and finished in two sets.
Before the final, Holger looked better. Rublev was required to show his best tennis.
Feat in the third set
The tense game for the title began from the very first games. With the score 3:2, Rune made a break, but Rublev immediately took the opponent’s serve, and then equalized the score – 4:4. The swing lasted until the end of the game. Andrei had the opportunity to transfer the game to a tie-break, but a mistake on the pitch cost him the set – 5:7.
The second set also began with the exchange of breaks. But with the score 2:2, Rublev seemed to turn on additional speed and demolished Rune. The Russian’s serve was flying, and the attacks were as effective as possible, and in defense he worked to the end. There were no questions about the transfer of the game to the third set – 6:2.
The decisive segment of the match turned out to be a failure for Rublev. Tired, he could no longer cope with Rune’s pressure, resulting in a 1:4 lag and 0:30 in the sixth game.
And then Andrew joined. Having pulled out a seemingly “hanging” game from the score of 30:40, he gathered himself and began to rapidly catch up with Rune. The Dane, who had nothing left before the victory, got nervous, swam and began to make mistakes more often. So 1:4 turned into 4:4, and then into 5:5. In the 11th game, Rublev made a break, and then, without any apparent problems, took the set and won the tournament – 7:5.
Sports feat, not otherwise!
“I Have Tears”
After the victory, Rublev did not hide his emotions. Still – the first victorious “Masters” in his career!
– I have tears. Do not know what to say. I’m just happy to finally, after so much effort, win this damn title on the thousandth, – said Andrey.
Rune, in turn, was visibly upset by the outcome.
– I definitely controlled the third set, but failed to bring it to victory. It’s a shame, but it’s part of tennis, admitted the Dane.
Ahead – Bosnia and Herzegovina
The title in Monte Carlo was Rublev’s 13th in his career. And the victory at the Masters is the first: previously, the Russian lost twice in the finals. In 2021, Alexander Zverev stopped him in Cincinnati, and in 2022, Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo.
In the status of a champion, Andrey will go to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the ATP-250 series tournament will be held. Now the main thing is to prepare well for Roland Garros, which starts at the end of May. There is still plenty of time, and such major victories will help Rublev gain the confidence with which great things can be done.
Source: Sportbox
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