Rublev defeated Dimitrov and will compete for the Shanghai Masters 1000

The Russian Andrey Rublevnumber 7 in world tennis, defeated the Bulgarian this Saturday Grigor Dimitrov and got a place in Shanghai Masters 1000 finalwhere he will face the Polish Hubert Hurkacz.

The match, which lasted one hour and 50 minutes, was decided in two sets, 7-6(7) and 6-3in favor of the Russian, fifth seed in the tournament and the only member of the ‘top 10’ of the international classification in the semifinals.

The first set was very even, with an attractive game. Rublev managed to save four consecutive breaking balls in the sixth game, even the Russian was not entirely happy with his game and could not avoid the tie break, which was also very close.

The story was different in a second set where, although the Bulgarian (19th in the ATP ranking and executioner in the second round of the Spanish Carlos Alcaraz) managed to take the lead by breaking Rublev’s serve in the first game, the Russian quickly came back with two more break points to punch his ticket to the final.

The rivalry served to break the tie in favor of Rublev the history of the duels between the two tennis players, who have so far met six times, of which three have fallen on the side of each of them.

The final, which will be played this Sunday at the center court of the Qizhong sports center, will feature a rivalry between Rublev and Hurkaczwho defeated American Sebastian Korda (6-3, 6-4) this Saturday in the other semifinal.

None of the players who reached the semifinals had won this competition before, so the Shanghai tournament, in the Masters 1,000 category and on the hard court, will register an unprecedented win in its first edition since 2019.