Monte-Carlo: Rublev comes from the brink to beat Rune and lift first ATP Masters title
The Russian was two points away from going down 5-1 in the final set before fighting back to win 7-5 over Rune
Andrey Rublev with the 2023 ATP Monte-Carlo Masters trophy
Russia’s Andrey Rublev, the No 5 seed, has reached the final of an ATP Masters Series twice before and came away with the runner-up trophy on both those occasions.
On Sunday, it looked like he would come away with another ATP Masters runner-up trophy as he trailed Denmark’s Holger Rune 4-1, 0-30 in the final set of the ATP Monte-Carlo Masters.
But Rublev fought back to get the set back on serve and then broke Rune in the 11th game before he served out the match 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 to lift the Monte-Carlo Masters trophy in two hours and 34 minutes.
Rune was one point away from going up 5-1 in the deciding set
It was Rune who started off the final on a stronger note as he broke Rublev to go up 4-2. Although the Russian fought back to make it 4-4, Rune broke again int he 12th game to win the first set 7-5.
Rublev put that disappointment behind him to take an early break and set up a 2-0 lead in the second. While Rune fought back to 2-2, the Russian won the next four games in a row to win the set 6-2 and send the match into a decider.
In the final set, it was Rune who broke first to go up 3-0 and although he needed medical attention to deal with what looked like to be cramps, the Dane held for 4-1 and moved to 0-30 on Rublev’s serve and even held a break point to go up 5-1. From there, the Russian fought back to win six of the final seven games to complete the win.
Rublev climbs to No 5 in the Race to Turin while Rune moves to No 7 in the world rankings
The win was Rublev’s 18th win of the season and he now climbs to fifth position in the ATP Race to Turin for the season-ending Tour Finals. He now leads Rune 2-1 in career head-to-head.
With the win, Rublev also becomes only the third player in the Open Era to make comeback wins in both the semi-finals and finals at Monte Carlo after Ivan Lendl (1988) and Ilie Nastase (1971); and the second Russian to win an ATP Masters title in clay after Andrei Chesnokov, who also won in Monte Carlo in 1990.
Rune, who had become the first teenager to reach the Monte-Carlo final since Rafael Nadal in 2006, dropped to 17-8 with the loss and will climb to a a new career-high of No 7 in the rankings on Monday.
Earlier in the week, Rublev, ranked No 6, defeated Spaniard Jaume Munar (4-6, 6-2, 6-2), No 9 seed Karen Khachanov (7-6 (4), 6-2), German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff (6-1, 7-6 (5)) and American Taylor Fritz, the No 8 seed (5-7, 6-1, 6-3) to reach the final.
Rune, who has one ATP Masters Series title, the Paris Masters, under his belt, had beaten Austrian wildcard Dominic Thiem (6-2, 6-4), Italian Matteo Berrettini (walkover), Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No 3 seed (6-3, 6-4) and Italian Jannik Sinner, the No 7 seed (1-6, 7-5, 7-5) earlier in the week.
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