Andrey Rublev will compete in Monte Carlo for his first Masters 1,000 title

the russian Andrei Rublev25 years old and world number 6, eliminated the American in the semifinals taylor fritz (5-7, 6-1, 6-3 in 2h.06′) and will fight this Sunday in the land of Monte Carlo for his first title Masters 1,000 against danish Holger Rune or the italian Jannik Sinner.

This will be the third final in this category for Rublev, who lost the previous two, both in 2021, against the German. Alexander Zverev in cincinnati and the greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo. Two years ago, the Russian shone in Principality by winning Rafael Nadal already in quarters Casper Ruud in the semifinals.

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2021 runner-up @AndreyRublev97 will have a second shot at the Monte Carlo title tomorrow after defeating Fritz 5-7 6-1 6-3!#RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/rAehsIgGBJ

—Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 15, 2023

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Fritz, ranked 10th and executioner in the quarterfinals of Tsitsipas, the current two-time champion, became the first American tennis player in the semifinals of Monte Carlo in 20 years, since vincent spadea He reached the penultimate round in 2003.

His loss against Rublev prevented him from taking another historic step and, therefore, Aaron Krickstein would go on to be the last finalist for the United States in the prestigious Monegasque tournament, back in 1992, when they lost to the Austrians. Thomas Muster.

Rublev snapped a three-match losing streak against Fritz, who continued to dominate the Russian in their head-to-head duels 4-3. In their first match on clay, Andrey overcame a loss in the first set (5-7) and a nearly two-hour stoppage due to rain with a 3-2 third set. On the restart, the Russian quickly grabbed the break and sealed his 6-3 victory.

It was the second final of the season for Rublev, who lost to his compatriot Daniel Medvedev in Dubai. On Sunday he will try to add his 13th title to his 19th ATP final. Fritz, who has five titles and five other finals, has yet to make a clay final. He performs better on hard tracks, but in Monte Carlo he showed that he can also achieve interesting results.