Monte-Carlo: Rublev continues quest for first Masters title, into final

Russian Andrey Rublev, the No 5 seed, defeated American Taylor Fritz, the No 8 seed, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 to move into the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters at Monte-Carlo Country Club on Saturday.

Rublev, ranked No 6, will face the winner of the match between Italian Jannik Sinner, the No 7 seed, and Dane Holger Rune, the No 6 seed, for the title.

“It was really tough, especially against Taylor, to whom I’ve lost three times, also Indian Wells last year semi-final,” Rublev said on court afterwards. “It was tough mentally to play against him, I didn’t know if I’d have chances. I started really well, I was up a break and he broke me back and I started to feel, ‘No, I will have chances.’ In the end we had a great match and I was able to win.”

Indeed, as he mentioned, he had lost his last three meetings against Fritz, and looked set to continue that run after the first set, with the American looking likely to become the first man from the USA to reach the Monte-Carlo final since Aaron Krickstein in 1992.

But Rublev was looking to emulate the success he had at this tournament in 2021, when he reached his first-ever ATP Masters 1000 final. On that occasion he lost in the final to Stefanos Tsitsipas; tomorrow he will be looking to win his first Masters 1000 title after finishing as runner-up twice (also in Cincinnati in 2021).

And he turned it around in fine style in the second set – even in the face of inclement weather that kept the two off court for two hours in the middle of the decider.

Rublev breaks Fritz’s streak against him

By the end of the match, the Russian had hit 27 winners compared to Fritz’s 25, but only 35 unforced errors against the American’s 48.

This was the first time the two had played each other on a surface other than hard court, but Fritz had won their three most recent – all in Masters 1000 events.

Earlier in the tournament, the Russian won against Spaniard Jaume Munar (4-6, 6-2, 6-2), No 9 seed Karen Khachanov (7-6 (4), 6-2) and German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff (6-1, 7-6 (5)).

Fritz, ranked No 10, beat Swiss wildcard Stan Wawrinka (7-6 (10), 6-2), Czech Jiri Lehecka (4-6, 6-4, 6-1) and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the second seed (6-2, 6-4) in the previous rounds of the Monte-Carlo tournament.

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Monte-Carlo Masters, other semi-final result (Monte-Carlo Country Club, clay, EUR 5.779.335):

• Jannik Sinner vs. Holger Rune