"I hope it will be different this time!" exclaimed the Dane. "I was very unlucky but he played very well. We both played very well," he added in reference to this match ball in the 8th final in Melbourne who had hooked the net to fall on his side of the court, out of reach on the match ball in the super tie break of the fifth set. Rune had had two match balls in his favor before.

In Monte-Carlo on Saturday in the semis, Rublev (6th in the world), dominated his American friend Taylor Fritz (10th) 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 in a match interrupted 1h45 by rain.

As if he had wanted to get involved in fairness, the sky also interrupted the second half for 45 minutes, before Rune (9th) beat the Italian Jannik Sinner (8th) 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 in 2h45.

At 25, Rublev has already played a final in Monte Carlo, lost in the 2021 edition behind closed doors to Stefanos Tsitsipas. That same year, a few months later, he also lost in the final in Cincinnati on hard courts.

At 19, Rune has already won a Masters 1000, moreover by beating Novak Djokovic last November in Paris.

"Talent"

The Monaco final will be the third clash between Rublev and Rune: before Melbourne this year, it was Rune who won the first duel, last year in Paris on the way to his first major title.

© Valery HACHE / AFP

"He runs a lot, he reads the game very well, he has a good touch... he's got a lot of talent," Rublev said of his next opponent.

Last year, the Dane had to go through qualifying in the Principality before losing in the second round. Since then, he has beaten Djokovic in the final in Paris, he reached the 8th place at the ATP on March 6, and supported the terrible pace printed Saturday by Sinner in the semis after having already mastered the day before in the quarters the former N.1 Daniil Medvedev (5th).

A progression that does not move him more than that.

"It goes fast, but sometimes I feel like it's going too slow. I am sometimes impatient, but thanks to my team I learn patience," he said Saturday night.

On Sunday, he will either double the bet, or Rublev will win the biggest tournament of his career.

As usual

"Last time, you asked me how I felt if I won the tournament and I lost without any chance of winning... so I won't answer that question anymore," Rublev humorously recalled during questions on court after qualifying, referring to his semi-final victory in 2021. He then suffered a heavy defeat in the final (6-3, 6-3 against Tsitsipas).

And instead of thinking about the final, he will try to do like "every other day", without even thinking that he has "something to do" on Sunday, he assured.

© Valery HACHE / AFP

Rune is more pragmatic: "we are one win each, one of us will go 2-1".

Anyway, in the absence of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, who are recovering from injuries, and after the elimination of Djokovic in the 8th final, the 2023 edition of the first major tournament on clay of the season has prefigured the future of tennis.

And, as Djokovic said, youngsters Sinner, Rune and Alcaraz are set to be "the next Big 3."

© 2023 AFP