(Monaco) Russian Andrey Rublev qualified for the final of the Monte-Carlo Masters for the second time in his career on Saturday, coming from behind to eliminate American Taylor Fritz 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 in a duel interrupted by rain.
Defeated in the final match two years ago, Rublev, the tournament’s fifth seed, will be looking for a 13th career title and first at a Masters 1000.
In Sunday’s final he will face sixth-seeded Denmark’s Holger Rune, who came from behind to topple seventh-seeded Italian Jannik Sinner 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Sinner, 21, was making his third straight Masters 1000 semi-final.
The Italian broke Rune’s serve on two occasions in the first set, which he won with ease.
Both players returned to the locker room in the second set due to rain as Rune led 3-0. Sinner struggled on the return to the court, but Rune held on to force the presentation of a deciding set.
A game played under great tension ended when Sinner sent a backhand into the net. Rune underlined his victory by pointing a finger at his head.
This will be the third duel between Rune and Rublev, with both players having won a game each.
Rune will be looking for a fourth career title and a second at a Masters 1000, following his triumph at the Paris Masters last November. Along the way, he had defeated Rublev.
Earlier in the day, on cloudy skies, Rublev had tied his one-in-all match on his fourth innings point when Fritz, the eighth seed, committed his fifth double fault of the clash.
Fritz scored a service break to give himself a 2-1 lead in the deciding set, but found himself down 15-40 in the next game.
Fritz emerged victorious from a 40-shot rally to save a first break point, but Rublev let out a mighty scream after placing a parallel backhand winner. The Russian then won his serve and took a 3-2 lead, just as the rain started to fall with more force.
The head referee initially wanted the duel to continue, but both players proved reluctant. Play was halted around 4 p.m. local time, before resuming at 5:40 p.m. under clearing skies.
In windy conditions, Rublev immediately broke Fritz’s serve before winning his own to give himself a 5-2 lead.
Serving to stay in the match, Fritz saved three match points. However, Rublev then produced a perfect serve game and confirmed the win with a forehand that beat Fritz.
“It was really tough, especially against Taylor,” Rublev said. I had lost my last three clashes against him. »
The 25-year-old pair hugged each other near the net as they faced off for the seventh time.
Fritz now leads Rublev 4-3 in their career duels.
