He had not won a set in five games, four on the ATP circuit and one on Challenger, and Andrey Rublev chose a special day to finally beat Danill Medvedev: the Cincinnati semifinals. The Russian came back against his compatriot (2-6, 6-3 and 6-3), who seemed unstoppable after being champion in Montreal and passing over McDonald, Dimitrov and Carreño at the Western & Southern Open without losing a heat and only 12 games. It will be Rublev who plays his second Masters 1,000 final. A few months ago he lost Monte Carlo against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who could be his rival in the final this Sunday (10:30 pm, Movistar Deportes), if the Greek beats German Alexander Zverev tonight.
Rublev’s was the triumph of faith against a machine that overwhelmed him in the first set and became entangled in the second as fatigue took its toll., even more so when he verified that his opponent had not given up and that he held the pull better than him. In addition, he had an incident with a camera at the back of the track that derailed him and hurt his hand. He collided with them while trying to strike back and pushed her away with his left, knocking her down along with her operator. Angry, he then kicked the lens and asked the Spanish chair umpire Nacho Forcadell to take it away, something that did not happen.
After receiving medical assistance (later he requested it, but for the right arm), he recovered and fought, but Rublev won the game and did it again in the third sleeve, when Medvedev’s mechanicsAs ugly and washed-out as it was effective, it no longer worked with its usual robotic precision. Setback for the world number two, who would have seen more closely Novak Djokovic’s one had he won the title in Ohio. He leaves the tournament without profit, in fact, he loses 640 points, and he is 1,133 behind the Serbian, champion last year. Rublev bails his seventh position and will attempt to win his first Masters 1,000.
Results, table and schedules.