The beginning of 2020 was the most successful period in the career of Andrei Rublev. In two weeks, the Russian tennis player won two ATP 250 tournaments and demonstrated that he was in excellent shape with the Australian Open. This time, the athlete excelled at the competition in Adelaide, where in the final he easily dealt with Lloyd Harris. The match lasted only 57 minutes, and the South African took three games.
The excellent mood and excellent physical condition of the Russian became very noticeable even at the competitions in Doha. There Rublev acted more than confidently and did not lose a set. The most intense game came to the finals with Corenten Mute, when he was forced to hold a tie-break. At the same time, the ease with which Andrei walked along the grid was associated with not the highest level of opposition. So, he has never met a tennis player from the top 50 rating, which greatly facilitated his task.
In Australia, by contrast, he was opposed by much more skillful rivals. In the 1/8 finals, he met Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey, then Davis Cup winner Daniel Evans got in his way, and for a ticket to the finals he had to fight with the talented Felix Auger Aljassim. Only with the American, he managed to deal with no apparent problems, while the two remaining matches lasted all the set three sets. The battle with the Canadian turned out to be overstressed and became a real decoration of the championship. The athletes spent more than three hours on the court, and in the decisive game Andrei made a comeback from the score 0: 3.
After he expressed hope that in the future he would have much more such intense matches, and also admitted that such a successful start to the season was a pleasant surprise for him.
“I did not expect to reach the final in two tournaments in a row. I didn’t think that I would start the season so well, let's see what will happen next. The most important thing is to continue to move forward, work and improve, ”Rublev told the ATP press service.
On paper, the final match with Lloyd Harris was supposed to be the easiest in the tournament for Rublev. The South African was 91st in the ranking and could only boast of victories in the Challenger category. At the championship in Adelaide, he was completely forced to break through qualifications, so he spent three more meetings. But in the main draw he managed to create several sensations at once, taking the upper hand over representatives of the top 40 - Laszlo Jere, Christian Garin and Pablo Corregno-Busta. He defeated the Spaniard in just 67 minutes, giving him a total of six games.
In the debut of the first set, the impression was that the South African could compete with the Russian. He confidently took the first two innings, and then earned a break point. Rublev again began to hit the first ball once again, and even the most accurate shots in the line began to work out for Harris. But in the end, Lloyd failed to take advantage of this chance, nor the other three in the next game. At key moments, he acted too recklessly and made unforced errors by sending balls either to the net or off the court.
Unlike him, Rublev treated his chances much more carefully. With a score of 3: 2, he earned two break points, one of which he realized. Moreover, the Russian himself practically did not have to make efforts in order to come forward. Harris twice sent the ball into the cable and was in the role of catching up. Subsequently, the Russian confidently brought the party to victory, which was a strong blow to the psychology of the enemy.
As it turned out, Harris could not cope with such a shock and went to the second set completely dismantled. By and large, he resisted only in the first and last games, where he managed to win two draws. In the rest, he looked absolutely demoralized and practically without a fight was inferior to Rublev. The Russian took six games in a row in just 23 minutes and in less than an hour, he secured his second victory in two weeks at ATP 250 tournaments.
The meeting ended with a score of 6: 3, 6: 0, and the key aspect was the difference in the number of unforced errors. Lloyd’s liabilities turned out to be 20 more (27: 7), which is not permissible in matches of this level. And this despite the fact that Rublev lost both actively won rallies (16:17) and aces (4: 8).
After the match, Rublev shared his views on two triumphs in a row, and also admired the design of the trophy of the competition in Adelaide.
“I still do not understand how I managed to win two tournaments in a row. These two weeks were great, ”said Rublev.
He also encouraged the counterpart, noting that in the future he would be able to win his first ATP trophy.
“We crossed paths at youth competitions, often practiced together. He is already a good athlete. I am sure that he will improve his game and also take a prize, ”added Rublev.
Due to this success, Rublev scored 500 points and came in second place in the ATP championship race of the current season. The leader is Novak Djokovic, who earned 665 points for a successful performance at the ATP Cup. Also, the top five included other team championship participants - Roberto Bautista Agut (305), Dushan Layovich (265) and Daniil Medvedev (255).
It is worth recalling that on January 21 Rublev will begin his performance at the Australian Open. His rival in the first round will be local tennis player Christopher O'Connell, who got into the final bracket through qualification. Previously, the Russian citizen twice overcame the barrier of the first round and even reached the third, but failed in 2019. Already at the start, he lost to Michael MacDonald and was forced to cover the racket.