Andrey Rublev battles past Pouille in Marseille

Andrey Rublev avoided disaster against Lucas Pouille winning the match in 3 sets and moving on to the semifinals.

The Russian found himself in a very tricky situation in the 3rd set but before he got there he played some superb tennis. Early on it was working for Rublev who was superb on his own serve. Both were quite exceptional when they hit their first serve as the courts in Marseille reward attacking play. Pouille did not play as good on his 2nd serve and that proved too much to overcome.

The Russian forced four break points and took one and that was more than enough to win the opening set. It was 6-1 with Pouille not having one single break point all set. The 2nd set was quite different as Pouille completely outplayed his opponent. Rublev could not do anything right and he committed a lot of cheap mistakes in the set.

Pouille was superb on both serves and cruised to a 6-1 2nd set finish. The 3rd set opened well for the Frenchman again as he took an early 2-0 lead. Rublev was a break down once more in Marseille just like he was in the previous round against Gasquet. Once again he was able to battle back into the match and eventually win it.

This comeback win was much less dramatic than the previous one as Rublev won six games in a row to finish it off with 6-2. A great comeback win for the Russian who is winning matches despite not playing great overall.