Andrey Rublev will take on Hubert Hurkacz in the Shanghai Final The winner of this one will take home their 2nd ATP Masters 1000 Title.
PREVIEW | 2023 Shanghai Masters Final as HURKACZ faces RUBLEV - Who takes penultimate ATP 1000 title of 2023 season
ATPSaturday, 14 October 2023 at 18:43
The final of the Rolex Shanghai Masters will take place on Sunday, October 15, at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, Here is our preview of the event, with Andrey Rublev set to take on Hubert Hurkacz for the penultimate ATP Masters 1000 title of the season.
Both fifth-seed Rublev and sixteenth-seed Hurkacz have put out some impressive displays of tennis over the last week. The former downed Quentin Halys, Adrian Mannarino, Tommy Paul, and Ugo Humbert in straight sets before prevailing over Grigor Dimitrov in a closely contested semi-final.
Ultimately, the World No. 7 emerged victorious 7-6 (7), 6-3, meaning he is still yet to drop a set at the tournament.
Meanwhile, Hurkacz achieved straight-set wins against Thanasi Kokkinakis and Yu Hsiou Hsu before overcoming an incredibly tight three-set battle with home player Zhizhen Zhang in the Round of 16.
Both the first and third set went to a tiebreak, but the Polish player clinched the victory and went on to fight back from a set down against Fabian Maroszan in the quarter-final.
However, the World No. 17 had a much easier time than Rublev in his semi-final match against Sebastian Korda, ousting the twenty-sixth seed 6-3, 6-4, in half the time it took for the Russian to defeat Dimitrov.
Winner will take the lead in head-to-head
Hurkacz and Rublev's head-to-head is currently level at 2-2. The latter won their most recent meeting at the 2022 Indian Wells 7-6 (5), 6-4. Prior to that, he came back from a set down to defeat Hurkacz at the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5). The closeness of these two matches suggests that the final could easily become a grueling battle.
One of Hurkacz's biggest weapons is his powerful serve - in his semi-final match, he won 85% of first serve points, while Rublev won 71% of points on first serve in his match against Dimitrov. Moreover, Hurkacz has shown his resilience throughout the tournament, surviving some tough clashes.
Nevertheless, Rublev is likely to be slightly better rested than his opponent overall despite his longer semi-final. This is due to his cleaner record throughout the event. Moreover, his consistency and ability to fight back under pressure as displayed against Dimitrov should see him clinch the title.
Prediction: Andrey Rublev to win in three sets.
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