One step away from victory: Rublev lost to Tsitsipas in a tie-break and lost his chances of reaching the semifinals of the ATP Final tournament

Rublyov's second defeat

Andrei Rublev and Stefanos Tsitsipas approached the in-person match not in the best mood, because both started the ATP Final Tournament with defeats.

The Russian lost to Rafael Nadal in two sets, and the Greek lost to Dominic Tim in three games.

Thus, the reporting meeting became decisive for both tennis players, and the loser could lose his chances of reaching the semifinals.

However, Rublev reacted rather calmly to the defeat from the Spaniard and said that he was glad to have the opportunity to gain experience in the confrontation with top tennis players.

“The rest of the participants are much more experienced.

I played only the second time with Rafa and before that I met once with Roger (Federer -

).

So I have only three matches with representatives of the Big Three.

The more often we meet, the better my results will be ”, - the press service of the tournament quotes the national athlete.

The match with Tsitsipas also turned out to be an excellent opportunity for Rublyov to gain experience.

By the way, this meeting was the fifth for tennis players in official tournaments, and before the fight in London there was equality in the confrontation.

Unfortunately, at first, the Russian did not succeed on the court.

He immediately allowed the opponent to make a break, and then lost to zero on someone else's serve - 0: 3.

Rublev managed to confidently take the next game, but the psychological advantage was no longer on his side.

Tsitsipas, having caught his game, confidently brought the set to victory, making another break - 6: 1.

The Greek looked stronger than his opponent in absolutely all respects.

In particular, he filed right through four times, while the Russian - never.

In addition, Andrei made eight unforced mistakes while Stefanos had three.

2️⃣0️⃣ minutes 😲 @ StefTsitsipas takes the first set 6-1 against Rublev. # NittoATPFinalspic.twitter.com / sXGyMhcHLE

- ATP Tour (@atptour) November 17, 2020

However, after an unsuccessful first game, the Russian pulled himself together and in the second set began to show a completely different tennis.

First of all, he managed to adjust the flow, which was not slow to affect the result.

He took his first two games to zero.

But in the seventh, with an equal score (3: 3), Rublev allowed his opponent to earn a double break point.

Fortunately, the Russian managed to pull himself together and win them back.

And in the tenth game Rublev confidently outplayed Tsitsipas on someone else's serve, not allowing the Greek who made a series of mistakes to score a single point - 6: 4.

In the final game, both tennis players acted very carefully, knowing full well that any mistake could lead to defeat.

As a result, the set did not require any breaks.

Although in the third game Tsitsipas almost took Rublev's serve, Andrei managed to win back five break points.

And in the 12th, the Russian athlete led 30: 0 and was close to matchballs, but failed to put the squeeze on his opponent.

Tie-break brought mixed emotions to the fans of the national tennis player.

In its course, the 23-year-old Muscovite was inferior (2: 5), but managed to return to the game and earn a matchball with a score of 6: 5.

However, at the most crucial moment, Rublev managed to make a double mistake.

After that, the inspired Tsitsipas scored two points in a row and brought the matter to victory.

In the decisive match for reaching the semifinals of the Final Tournament, the Greek will play with Nadal.

The Russian suffered a second defeat in the group stage and lost his chances to participate in the playoffs.

Surprisingly, after an offensive loss, Rublev found the strength to see the pluses in what had happened.

The tennis player recalled that the 2020 season was the most successful in his career, and he managed to win more tournaments than in all the years before.

The Russian also rejoiced at the fact that after the failed first set he managed to return to the game and almost snatched a tie-break victory, although, according to him, many expected that he would lose in the second game.

Tim's exit to the semifinals

In another match of the day, Dominic Tim, after defeating Tsitsipas, was stronger than Rafael Nadal.

The Austrian beat the second racket of the world in two sets in tie-breaks.

In the first game, the tennis players confidently kept their serve and did not allow each other to make a single break.

But at the tie-break, both started having problems.

Rafael won only two rallies on his serve, while Dominic won three.

In the course of the decisive segment, Nadal led - 5: 2, and later served for the set, but Tim managed to get out of a difficult situation as a winner - 9: 7.

In the second game, the Spaniard was already in the balance of defeat.

In the seventh and eighth games, the rivals exchanged breaks, and with the score 5: 4 in his favor, Tim earned a triple matchball on Nadal's serve.

However, Rafael managed to escape and transfer the game to a tie-break, where he still lost - 4: 7.

Dominik confidently leads the group, guaranteeing himself participation in the semifinals of the tournament, and in the last match of the round-robin stage he will play with Rublev.