Andrey Rublev will find himself in the final of the Hamburg European Open for the second year in a row. The Russian, who lost to Nikoloz Basilashvili in three sets in the title match in last year’s\u00a0 edition, defeated Casper Ruud 6-4 6-2 on Saturday. The Norwegian, who last week made the semifinals at the Italian Open, was looking tired from all the tennis he’s played the past two weeks.<\/p>\n
“Well, I was just playing good all week. I start to feel better and better clay, compared to last week in Rome. I start to get used to (it).” said the Russian, who lost to Hubert Hurkacz in Rome last week. “Match by match I was playing better and better and then the last two days I’m showing a really good level. So, I’m really happy and now I’m enjoying it, I know that I have game. This is what I was looking for here and now I’ve found it.”<\/p>\n
Rublev was also asked about the possible effects of the medical timeout that Ruud took at the start of the second set on his own game and mentality. “When I won the second game, from 2-0, I started to see that he’s not serving the same way. He’s not serving that hard. So then, I started to be a little bit more calm. That medical timeout he took was because he had a reason. (…) I think (Ruud’s issues) gave me more confidence than something different”.<\/p>\n
His championship match opponent will be Stefanos Tsitsipas. The second-seeded Greek managed to take down Cristian Garin 7-5 3-6 6-4 in a very tight three-setter. “It was nerve-racking. During the match [there were] lots of nerves,\u201d said Tsitsipas after the match. \u201c It was very close and towards the end, I showed great responsibility and took advantage of my strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garin was the first opponent that managed to seriously challenge Tsitsipas this week. The Chilean settled down after some early nerves saw him go down 2-5 in the opener. Despite three games won on the spin, Garin gave away another break as Tsitsipas pressured him at 6-5 up. But the second set was a masterpiece from Garin, who suddenly started dictating play and hitting some superb backhand winners up the line. The decider turned out to be a tight affair but it was Garin who bled first as Tsitsipas strung a couple of great points on return to go up 3-2. Despite the Chilean’s best efforts, he wasn’t able to get the break back as the second seed hit his spots on serve really well towards the end of the match.<\/p>\n
Rublev and Tsitsipas will face each other for the fourth time in their professional history. The Russian triumphed at a Challenger in Quimper and won their last encounter at last year’s US Open. Tsitsipas was the better player in the fast-4 format at the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals. They have never played on clay.<\/p>\n
Main photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>