Rublev plays stunning tennis to defeat Tsitsipas in ATP Finals

Andrey Rublev made a winning start to his 2021 ATP Finals campaign by playing sensational tennis to defeat Tsitsipas 6-4 6-4.

Stefanos Tsitsipas arrived in Turin with persistent foot issues that he claimed have calmed down enough for him to be able to compete fully. While he looked good fitness-wise on the court, tennis wise it was less than ideal. Tsitsipas has not been in sensational form for a while and today while solid overall he simply did not have enough for a stunning Rublev.

From the start, Rublev asserted himself as the more aggressive player playing a much energetic brand of tennis. The Russian was very active on return attacking at every chance he could and with moderate success. Where he shined especially was his own serve where he practically turned into a serve bot for the better part of the set.

After taking a break off of Tsitsipas Rublev rushed to a 6-4 finish of the first set hitting 92 % of his first serves, losing only 3 points when he did. In the 2nd set did not serve as good but he was still playing very good tennis. Tsitsipas had chances but every time a small chance presented itself the Greek failed to convert it.

Tsitsipas had a clear intention of attacking Rublev's 2nd serve and it worked quite well. In the first he did not see enough fo them but in the 2nd he saw quite a few but all the most important rallies were won by Rublev. He broke him midway through the 2nd and from there served out the match withouth facing too many issues.