Moscow (AFP)
Adrian Mannarino of France, opposed to Andrey Rublev in the final of the tournament in Moscow, is looking for the second title of his career after opening his record on the turf of Hertogenbosch in June.
"It was a very consistent match, I tried to make Andreas play as hard as I could, and I think it worked pretty well," Mannarino, a finalist last year in Moscow, said after his victory on Saturday. 6-3, 6-4 ahead of Andreas Seppi of Italy (77).
"I served well in the most important moments and it helped me a lot, I hope to be just as consistent (Sunday) as today (Saturday)," said the 31-year-old Frenchman who had wait for his 7th final to lift his first trophy.
Sunday in the final, Mannarino, the 44th world player who has not yet yielded any set of the week, will have to face the "local hero" Andrey Rublev (31).
If Mannarino has quietly dismissed Andreas Seppi in 75 minutes, Rublev must have fought hard in front of Croatian Marin Cilic (25th). The 21-year-old Russian finally won, in two sets also, but more contested, 7-5, 6-4, after 1:32 fight.
Despite 11 aces, Marin Cilic, 31 years old and already winner of 18 titles including a US Open and two in Moscow (2014, 15), failed to derail the well-oiled Rublev game that has served a little better than his opponent in first ball (58% against 49).
A finalist in Hamburg this year and Doha in 2018, Rublev is also looking for the second trophy of his career after having raised the first, in 2017, in Umag, Croatia.
For his part, in addition to his victorious final in the Netherlands, Mannarino was also a finalist in Zhuhai, China. He never faced Rublev on the ATP circuit.
© 2019 AFP