Andrey Rublev scores a stunning victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas
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Andrey Rublev pulled off a stunning 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas and reached the quarter-finals of the ATP Finals, while Novak Djokovic remained undefeated in the first-round stage by defeating Daniil. Medvedev on Friday.
Tsitsipas stormed out to dominate the first set, springing a shallow ball from Rublev to hit a forehand in the first half and taking a 3-1 lead as the fiery Russian began to boil.
The Greek took the set when Rublev failed to put his second serve into play and it looked like the Russian might cruise in from there.
Instead, Rublev pared back the errors in the second set and unleashed a mighty roar at Pala Albitor when he broke Tsitsipas to lead 5-3.
Rublev saved a break point in the next game and raised his fist high when a forehand from Tsitsipas flew wide to level the match by one set.
From there, it was Tsitsipas who struggled to maintain his composure as Rublev continued to apply pressure, breaking 2-1 in the third set and again for 5-2 on consecutive double faults from the world number three.
“I kept telling myself to keep fighting, keep playing, and we’ll see what happens,” Rublev said.
“I was happy because I was mentally strong today and was able to turn the game around because in the beginning Steve was hitting really hard, hitting several forehand winners.”
Next for Rublev is a semi-final against Norwegian Kasper Ruud.
A terrible struggle
Earlier on Friday, Djokovic defeated Russian Medvedev 6-3 6-7(5) 7-6(2) in a grueling encounter to top the red group.
Djokovic, seeking a sixth title at the season-ending tournament to match Roger Federer’s record, drew first blood in a tight opening set to take a 5-3 lead and extended the break to take the early advantage in the match.
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Trailing 5-4 the next day, the Serb saved three set points and equalized with a powerful shot across the court at the end of a 26-shot rally but appeared to struggle physically in the tiebreaker loss as he allowed Medvedev back into the game. .
Having already reached the semi-finals with victory over Rublev on Wednesday, some were expecting Djokovic to calm down and conserve his energy for Saturday’s semi-final meeting with Taylor Fritz, but the 35-year-old responded in impressive style.
The Serbian player came back from a collapse in the deciding set to make Medvedev his third defeat in a row after three hours and five minutes of exciting tennis.
“Daniel and I have had some fights in the past and I knew it would be his last match of the season and he wouldn’t want to end it with a loss,” Djokovic said.
“I started well, had chances in the second set, had break points but he played very well in those crucial points. He was playing really fast. I didn’t feel good physically in the third, I struggled a lot. It’s a battle and it’s a battle.”
“I managed to find the last drop of energy to come back…at 4-5 (in the third set) I could read his serve and anticipate him well and got into a good position.”
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