DUBAI: Andrey Rublev is pursuing his quest to become the first player since Roger Federer in 2015 to claim back-to-back Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship titles after marching to this year’s final.
Rublev stormed into the ATP 500 final at this week’s DDF championship, edging out childhood friend and No. 7 seed Alexander Zverev in straight sets in front of a capacity crowd at DDF Tennis Stadium.
It took the defending champion and World No. 6 a tiebreak to clinch the match 6-3, 7-6 (9) and continue his pursuit to clinch back-to-back titles.
Zverev’s hopes of reaching a first final since suffering serious injury at Roland Garros last June were quashed on Friday.
“I was thinking it was going to be a third set, and maybe that helped me,” said Rublev. “It was a super intense tiebreak. We are really good friends; we’ve known each other since we were 10 or 11 years-old in the juniors. He’s like an older brother to me, and he’s beaten me in our previous matches, so I knew I had nothing to lose.”
In a seesaw opening game that clocked in at just under 20 minutes, Rublev broke Zverev’s serve at the sixth attempt. He then repeated the feat twice more in four Zverev service games in the opening set, making light work of the German’s 200 kph-plus missiles.
Conversely, the second set was deadlocked on serve until the tiebreak, when a relaxed Rublev converted a fifth match point to seal his first ATP Tour win over Zverev, a player who sits 10 places beneath him in the world rankings.
Commenting over qualifying for his second consecutive DDF final, Rublev said: “It’s crazy, I have no words for the spectators and supporters here.”
In the first of the doubles semifinals, third seeds Lloyd Glasspool of the UK and Finland’s Harri Heliovaara downed Croatian duo Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic 6-4, 6-2 in under and hour on Center Court.
Glasspool and Heliovaara are chasing their fourth ATP Tour title, and second tournament win of the year after triumphing in January’s Adelaide International 1. They will face either Maxime Cressy of the US and France’s Fabrice Martin, or Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen — the all-Belgian surprise package who have surged through the tournament after being promoted to the opening round as lucky losers.
Defending champion Rublev marches into DDF tennis championship final
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Defending champion Rublev marches into DDF tennis championship final
- ‘I was thinking it was going to be a third set, and maybe that helped me,’ said Rublev
- Third seeds Glasspool and Heliovaara win over top seeds Mektic and Pavic to reach doubles final
Sabalenka returns to Brisbane final, faces Kostyuk for title
- In Sunday’s title clash, the Belarusian will face Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk
- World number one Sabalenka has been in similarly superb form in her first tournament of the season
BRISBANE: Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka outclassed Karolina Muchova to seal a 6-3 6-4 win at the Brisbane International on Saturday and reach the final of the Australian Open tune-up tournament for the third straight year.
In Sunday’s title clash, the Belarusian will face Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who cruised past world number six Jessica Pegula 6-0 6-3 for her third straight top-10 win after also defeating Amanda Anisimova and Mirra Andreeva in her last two rounds.
World number one Sabalenka has been in similarly superb form in her first tournament of the season, and arrived for her match against Muchova having defeated reigning Melbourne Park champion Madison Keys in straight sets in the quarter-finals.
Things were expected to be trickier against Muchova, who is known for her inventive brand of tennis and had racked up a 3-1 career head-to-head record over Sabalenka, including victories in their previous three meetings.
Sabalenka shrugged off that statistic to take full control of the semifinal clash with a break in the second game, before she displayed deft touches and power from the baseline to take the first set, which she finished with a huge backhand winner.
The four-times Grand Slam champion, who is eyeing her third Australian Open trophy when the tournament begins on January 18 at Melbourne Park, was pushed harder in the next set but edged ahead again at 5-4 to wrap up the win on serve.
“There were a lot of close misses at the end of the second set but I’m super happy to close this match in straight sets,” said Sabalenka, who prevailed on her fourth match point.
“She’s a great opponent and I knew that if I gave her that opportunity in the last games, she would take it, and it would be a bit trickier to play. I’m super happy I got the win.”
Three Americans were in action in the Brisbane men’s event semifinals, where Brandon Nakashima beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 7-6(4) 6-4 before their compatriot Alex Michelsen went down 6-4 6-2 to top seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia.
In the Auckland Classic, Filipino Alexandra Eala squandered a match point to allow China’s Wang Xinyu to secure a 5-7 7-5 6-4 win. Up next for Wang is Elina Svitolina, who beat Iva Jovic 7-6(5) 6-2 in the second semifinal.
Top seed Lorenzo Musetti reached the final of the Hong Kong Open, beating Andrey Rublev 6-7(3) 7-5 6-4 in a last-four clash. Alexander Bublik beat Marcos Giron 3-6 6-4 6-2 in the second semifinal, setting up a title clash with Musetti.
