Top
Andrey Rublev Monte Carlo 2021
ATP Tennis Players, Tennis News

Andrey Rublev charges into Monte Carlo final after Casper Ruud win


Andrey Rublev booked his place in the Monte Carlo final with a comfortable victory over Norwegian star Casper Ruud. 

The Russian continued his monumental form which saw him beat 11-time champion Rafael Nadal, with a 6-3 7-5 victory over 22-year-old Ruud in 1 hour and 21 minutes.

The World No 8 went down an early break in the first set, though recovered impressively to take four consecutive games before wrapping up the set 6-3.

In the second, the Norwegian showed great resilience to put together a barnstorming run of his own, breaking the Russian twice to lead 4-2.

However, Rublev showed his grit and determination to steal the break back at 5-5 before holding to love to oust the 22-yea-old.

Once again, the Russian was devastating behind his first serve, winning 76% of his points, though will want to improve his first serve percentage which stood at just 43%.

“Casper is a really amazing player, especially on clay,” Rublev said in his post-match interview.

“Since the beginning he put a really high intensity and was really tough. I knew that I needed to raise my level if I wanted to fight against him, because if I did not raise the level I would lose for sure.

“It is an amazing feeling to be in my first [ATP Masters 1000] final, so I am really happy. We will see what is going to happen in the final. I will try to do my best.”

Andrey Rublev will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday’s final, with both players in search of their first Masters 1000 title.

The head-to-head record suggests there is very little to separate the pair with four wins apiece and one win each on the clay surface.

However, Tsitsipas will certainly feel confident after his straight-sets demolition of Rublev in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros last year.


By
0

Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.