Andrey Rublev, the 5th seed at the just concluded Monte Carlo Masters, has reached the final of an ATP Masters 1000 twice before and came short with the runner-up trophy on both outings. On Sunday, it looked like he would come away with another ATP Masters runner-up trophy as he was down 4-1, *0-30 on serve against Denmark’s Holger Rune in the final set of the ATP Monte-Carlo Masters. But Rublev fought back to get the setback 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.
“It’s a great feeling. Today, I handled my emotions really well,” said Rublev. “After struggling so much, so many times, losing in the finals, semi-finals, losing even earlier, to win first 1000 Masters, and finally I did it. “To win a match like this, losing 4-1, Love-30, breakpoint for 5-1, and to be able to come back and to win is like a fairytale today,” said the world number six, who hit 33 winners on the way to his 13th career title.
Rune, who came to the limelight at last year’s French Open when he reached the quarter-finals, he needed nearly three hours to beat Italy’s Jannik Sinner in the semifinals. Rublev also needed three sets to beat Taylor Fritz, and fatigue was a factor in Sunday’s showdown.
Rune rues missed chance
“I didn’t have much time to recover,” Rune said. “I gave it all. Didn’t have any more in me. I did what I could, and I was very close.” Rune, who is the youngest Monte Carlo finalist since Rafael Nadal in 2005, opened a 4-2 lead in the first set on his second break point chance, only for an unforced forehand error to allow Rublev to break right back.
Rublev, however, showed class under pressure in the seventh game as he sent a forehand long to lose his second service game and give Rune the opening set. After an early exchange of breaks in the second set, Rune netted a routine shot to drop serve again before Rublev held for a 4-2 lead. Rublev then broke to love and levelled the contest on serve as Rune lost composure. But Rune found gravity-defying angles to break first in the decider, moving 3-0 and 4-1 ahead. Rublev did not surrender, and after breaking in the seventh game, he broke Rune’s serve again as the Danish player received a warning for angrily sending the ball into the crowd in the 11th game.
The crowd jeered Rune, who sarcastically encouraged them to do so. But he double-faulted to give his opponent the chance to serve for victory, and Rublev sealed a 14th career title. “I was definitely in control in the third set … didn’t manage to close it out,” Rune said. “Just got to see what I did wrong, what I can do better, and move on, because, you know, the most important tournament of the clay season is the French Open.”
