Dubai tennis: Russia's Rublev wins epic thee-set battle to reach final

Top Stories

Russia's Andrey Rublev celebrates a point against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz during their semifinal at the ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. (AFP)
Russia's Andrey Rublev celebrates a point against Poland's Hubert Hurkacz during their semifinal at the ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. (AFP)

The 24-year-old Russian beat Hurkacz, the big-serving Polish, for the first time in his career

by

Rituraj Borkakoty

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Fri 25 Feb 2022, 7:50 PM

Last updated: Fri 25 Feb 2022, 8:09 PM

Second seed Andrey Rublev of Russia fought back from a set down to beat Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7/5) to enter the final of the ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Friday.

Rublev, the world number seven, will take on the winner of the second semifinal between Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely and sixth seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada in Saturday’s final.


The 24-year-old Russian beat Hurkacz, the big-serving Polish, for the first time in his career, having lost their two previous battles in the past.

Second seed Andrey Rublev of Russia fought back from a set down to beat Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7/5) to enter the final of the ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Friday.


Rublev, the world number seven, will take on the winner of the second semifinal between Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely and sixth seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada in Saturday’s final.

The 24-year-old Russian beat Hurkacz, the big-serving Polish, for the first time in his career, having lost their two previous battles in the past.

The fifth seeded Hurkacz was on top of his game in the first set, but Rublev found his range in the second, breaking the Pole in the 12th game to take the match into the third set.

With both players playing solid service games in the third set, Rublev’s superior all-court game made the difference in the tight tie-break as the Russian clinched the match on his second match point.

This will be the second straight final appearance for Rublev, who entered the Dubai tournament on the back of a title-winning campaign at the Open 13 championship in Marseille, France, last week.

Rublev admitted that he was tired about winning his eighth straight match in two weeks.

“I am just very tired now. But somehow I just told myself to keep fighting and I just ended up winning my third straight three-set match,” said Rublev, who reached the semifinals in Dubai last year.

“Today there were moments when it felt I had no chance. And somehow I still managed to win. It’s incredible.”


More news from