“Will it be more difficult to play with Carlos, because I’m meeting him for the first time? It doesn’t matter now. If it hadn’t been for the Final Tournament, I would would have thought, but now it is a key match with one of the best players of the season, helmet winner,” Rublev said on the eve of the match against the Spaniard.
“Rublev of course has one of the best forehands on the tour. Plus, he doesn’t miss it, no matter how long he’s been on the court: three hours, five – he keeps hitting it. I I will be ready to face any opponent,” Alcaraz said of his opponent.
The first set of the match was relatively smooth. Andrey served first and, after eliminating most of the rallies, took the lead. Alcaraz responded with a scoreless match – 1:1. The tennis players continued to take points one by one. At 4:4, Rublev was about to give the game away to the Spaniard, but he managed to recover and escape break point with a good serve. Alcaraz managed to tie the score again and the match moved closer to the tiebreaker. In the 11th game, the Spaniard makes another break point. Rublev was able to escape. But the Spaniard once again won a chance and converted it – 6:5 in favor of Alcaraz. After which he served for the set – 7:5.
In the second set, Andrey did not restart. The Spaniard took two points in a row. Taking advantage of Carlos’ mistake, Rublev played a match. At 3:1, Andreï did not allow his opponent to make a break point – 3:2. After that, Carlos brought two games to zero – 5:2. Then the Spaniard served for the match – 7:5, 6:2 in 1 hour 15 minutes.
“Great match from me, I’m happy with the match. I stayed true to my style. Rublev is a great player, beating him gives a lot of confidence, especially after losing in the first round. I was more aggressive than Andrey “It’s good that he has one of the best forehands on the tour, but I tried to surpass him, I trained him and it worked,” Alcaraz said of his victory.
“I wanted to end the season on a good note, but sometimes you are disappointed. Alcaraz played very well, served very well. It makes no difference to me who you lose to – a close friend or just a top player. Either way, you’ll feel disappointed. Alcaraz and Medvedev, for now, the moment is stronger than me. Carlos has many strengths. He can do anything. Now he’s just better than me and that’s it,” Rublev said of the defeat.
Rublev suffered a second defeat in the final tournament and lost his chances of leaving the group. The Russian still has a match ahead of him against German Alexander Zverev, in which Andrey can earn 200 ranking points if he wins. Alcaraz will meet another Russian, the third number in the ranking Daniil Medvedev.
Yahya Hasanov, Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
