Andrey Rublev advances to Gijon Open final, extends winning streak against Dominic Thiem
Oct 16, 2022
Gijon [Spain], October 16 : Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev's winning streak against Austrian Dominic Thiem extended to four matches after a win in semis that helped him reach the final of Gijon Open in Spain on Saturday.
Rublev defeated the Austrian by a margin of 6-4, 6-4.
Rublev played an aggressive brand of tennis and solidified his hold on the sixth position in the ATP Live Race to Turin, with his eyes on the ATP Finals for the third consecutive year.
The Russian player, who has won eight consecutive sets against the former US Open champion was battling his on-court frustration after being broken when attempting to serve out the first set. He was in a rage after dropping the serve but regained his composure to break in the next game to close the set.
"When I was winning 4-1 with a breakpoint for 5-1 it looked like the match is going my way and then I am at 5-4 with him serving. That's not easy to accept, but I was lucky I played a really good game and Dominic helped me out a little bit," ATP quoted Rublev as saying.
"Then I felt more confident and I was able to win in two sets, which was the most important thing. This week I have been playing really well and I will try to show my best tennis of the week tomorrow," he added.
The former junior world number 1 attacked first and second serves of Thiem to gain momentum and broke him in the final game of the match for a win. He ended up winning 33 per cent of first-serve return points and 53 per cent of second-serve return points.
After triumphs in Belgrade, Dubai and Marseille, Rublev is after his fourth title. He will meet America's Sebastian Korda in finals on Sunday. Korda advanced into his first final of the year with a 7-6(2), 6-3 win over France's Arthur Rinderknech.
Korda, 22-year-old of age, clinched his 30th win of the year and jumped 11 spots to climb to number 36 in ATP Live Rankings, with his career-best being number 30. He had last appeared in a tour-level final in May last year when he won his first-ever ATP Tour title at ATP 250 clay-court event in Parma.
"It was a really good match that came down to a couple of games here and there. I am very, very happy and excited for tomorrow. It is going to be very difficult, but I am ready to go," said Korda.
