Rublev survives a match with two different sets against Schwartzman

Their first match came a week ago at the Laver Cup where Rublev barely squeezed past Schwartzman who was playing a good match. Tonight's match was a match of two very different sets. The final score was 6-1 7-5 and as the result vividly pictures the first set was utter domination by the Russian. Rublev proved in his previous match that the conditions in San Diego suit him and he backed that up against Schwartzman.

Coming out very hot blasting away forehands left and right he was able to quickly take a lead which snowballed into a convincing 6-1 first set win. The 2nd set was an entirely different story. It was an all about battle where each player had break points in seemingly all of the games played. Rublev saved early break points and so did Schwartzman.

None was able to find the breakthrough with games featuring very long rallies that left both gasping for air. Midway through the set Rublev was able to finally break through the defence on Schwartzman taking a 4-2 lead but the Argentinian came right back to make it 4-3 and eventually 4-4. At 5-5, Rublev saved a crucial break point that allowed him to take a 6-5 lead.

Schwartzman took an easy 40-0 lead yet the Argentinian complicated matters a lot by allowing Rublev to force a deuce. That turned into a break / match point and ultimately ended the match. Schwartzman looked like the better player in those moments but a few costly errors at the end sealed his fate. Rublev moves on, glad to have avoided a 3rd set where Schwartzman could have had chances.