Russian Andrey Rublev had a successful week in Sweden. At the ATP 250 tournament in Båstad, he celebrated victory, taking the second title of the season. Rublev gave a powerful final against one of the best tennis players in the world.

Casper Ruud was just smeared across the court!

Seventh series

In Bostad, both the Russian and the Norwegian got the highest numbers in the grid. Ruud played as the first seed, and Rublev as the second. Matches of the first round, or 1/16 finals, the seed leaders missed.

On the way to the title confrontation, the Norwegian beat the Russian Alexander Shevchenko, Sebastian Ofner from Austria and the representative of Italy Lorenzo Musetti. None of the opponents could impose a fight on the fourth racket of the world: two sets were enough for Kasper each time.

Photo: © John Walton – PA Images / Contributor / PA Images / Gettyimages.ru

Rublev’s path in Bostad turned out to be more difficult. The Russian took turns knocking out his compatriot Pavel Kotov, the German Alexander Zverev and Francisco Cherundolo from Argentina. At the same time, the South American imposed a powerful fight on the 7th racket of the world: in the first two sets, the tennis players exchanged tie-breaks, and only in the third did Rublev put the squeeze on an uncompromising opponent.

Before that, Andrey met Ruud six times. The Russian has won four victories, with two of them at the Australian Open and the Masters in Monaco – both in 2021. However, then the Norwegian celebrated success twice.

Down and out

The first set turned out to be stubborn and difficult for both tennis players. I had to fight not only with the opponent, but also with the weather.

At the end of the set, the game was interrupted twice due to rain, and Rublev took better advantage of these pauses. Having exchanged games with Ruud, the Russian looked more confident in the tie-break and won the set – 7:6 (7:3).

In the second game, there was only one tennis player on the court – Rublev. The nominal favorite, Ruud, looked like a pale copy of himself and more of a whipping boy than a fight. Andrey tore the opponent to smithereens, playing perfectly both on the pitch and on the reception. Inspiration brought him a dry victory in the set (6:0) and throughout the match.

Photo: © Mathilda Ahlberg / Keystone Press Agency / Global Look Press

“Tapping those damn lines”

After the match, Ruud warmly congratulated Rublev. The Norwegian accepted defeat with humor.

You are a great guy who treats everyone with respect. Although today you tapped all those damn lines, and it wasn’t very respectful of me. It’s great to share the court with you. I hope we will play again,” said Ruud, quoted by the Tennis TV portal.

Rublev, in turn, also responded with courtesy.

– You have already played in the Slam finals three times – this is a super achievement. I’m sure you’ll have a title soon. I respect you very much. There are few such nice people – not only among the players, but in general in the world, – Andrey is quoted by Tennis TV.

Close to Safin

Success in Bostad became the 14th in the ATP system for the Russian tennis player. According to this indicator, he is in fifth place among all compatriots who have ever played at a professional level. Rublev is second only to Yevgeny Kafelnikov (26), Nikolai Davydenko (21), Daniil Medvedev (20) and Marat Safin (15).

The next step in Andrey’s career is the ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg, Germany. He has every chance to repeat the success and add the 15th trophy to his collection.