RUBLEV GOES TO THE FINAL! ⭐️ The Russian prevails on his friend Dimitrov in straights and reaches the 4th final in a Masters 1000, the 23rd on Tour. One win away from joining the ATP Finals and becoming the NEW world no. 4. 👀
Andrey Rublev edges past Grigor Dimitrov into final at Shanghai Masters after closely contested battle
ATPSaturday, 14 October 2023 at 16:24
Andrey Rublev edged past Grigor Dimitrov to make the final of the Rolex Shanghai Masters after a closely contested straight-sets win, 7-6 (7), 6-3.
The World No. 7 is the highest-ranked player left in the draw and is yet to drop a set so far at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament. He moved past Quentin Halys, Adrian Mannarino, and Tommy Paul before downing Ugo Humbert 6-2, 6-3, to set up the clash with his good friend and eighteenth seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Rublev appeared to be distracted at the beginning of the match, complaining of a sound somewhere that the chair umpire couldn't hear. After this, the fifth seed managed to take his opponent's first service game to a deuce, but Dimitrov fought to hold and keep the set on serve.
Rublev clinches first set
Strong play followed from both players, along with some evident frustration on Rublev's side at being unable to clinch the break until the set was level at 5-5. At this point, the Russian built up two break points before Dimitrov leveled it at a deuce. Nevertheless, Rublev was able to get the advantage before acing the World No. 19 to secure the first break of the match.
Rublev then served for the set, but Dimitrov was not done yet. The Bulgarian player fought to break Rublev back and force a tiebreak. The duo went back and forth for a while until Rublev reached set point at 6-5. Dimitrov then equalized before taking the lead at 7-6. However, Rublev ultimately leveled again before edging ahead to clinch the opener.
The second set was more straightforward for the 26-year-old, but it was anything but plain sailing at the start as Dimitrov broke him in his first service game.
However, Rublev came back in Dimitrov's service game to break back after a long battle on deuce. The 32-year-old's game dropped drastically after this and the Russian was able to secure another break shortly afterward.
Rublev soon found himself serving for the set, which he secured with a W-0 hold.
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