Andrey Rublev was one point away from seeing opportunity turn to disappointment. Serving at 4-5 in the third set of his semi-final at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, the 20-year-old faced match point against Guido Pella, who was seeking his third ATP World Tour final. But after hitting a booming ace, the #NextGenATP Russian found his best tennis to escape the game and eventually the match, using an impressive 26 winners to swing past the Argentine 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(2) after a two-hour, 26-minute classic. "It feels amazing. I have no words to describe this match," Rublev said. "I think it was such an amazing match for both of us. We made amazing rallies, such unreal rallies. I'm really happy...
The wins – some of the biggest of Andrey Rublev's career – arrived in a flurry. At the US Open, the Russian beat then-No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin, who'd finish at No. 7 in the year-end ATP Rankings, en route to becoming the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since Andy Roddick in 2001. A month later, at the China Open in Beijing, Rublev fought back from a set down to beat both year-end No. 8 Jack Sock and Top 10 stalwart Tomas Berdych. Four big wins you could easily call “career-building” for the #NextGenATP Russian. But the 20-year-old doesn't view them in such a linear, stepping-stone way. To Rublev, the matches were simply good wins on good days, no...
In this edition of ATPWorldTour.com's Best of 2017 series, Next Gen ATP star Andrey Rublev invites ATP World Tour Uncovered presented by Peugeot to meet his family in Moscow and take a trip down memory lane.
Continuing our Season In Review series, ATPWorldTour.com pays tribute to the first-time winners of the 2017 season. In part two of our two-part series, we look at the year's final three first-time winners. Andrey Rublev – Umag [First-Time Winner Spotlight] Andrey Rublev wasn't supposed to even be playing in the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag main draw, let alone lifting his maiden ATP World Tour trophy. The #NextGenATP Russian had fallen in the final round of qualifying, but after home favourite Borna Coric withdrew, Rublev became a lucky loser and then a first-time titlist, beating Italian Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 6-2 in the final. “Of course, it’s amazing. I have no words to explain it. Especially after this tough week and...
