The final ATP-2022 championship turned out to be special for Russia.
For the first time in history, two domestic tennis players were in the same group.
The lot brought together Daniil Medvedev and Andrei Rublev.
Moreover, they got the trophy holders of different years - Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas - as rivals.
It is not surprising that many experts dubbed these four "death quartet" in advance, and the former first racket of the planet, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, suggested that the Russians would not be able to reach the semifinals.
Rublev even jokingly stated that he did not understand how he ended up in such a company.
Additional intrigue was given by the fact that they had to meet each other in the very first round.
Medvedev was considered the favorite, who is higher in the ATP rankings and won more tournaments.
In addition, he had head-to-head statistics on his side.
Daniil won four victories in a row over his opponent, after which he lost to him in the semifinals of the Masters in Cincinnati last year - 6:2, 3:6, 3:6.
Before the game, the opponents exchanged compliments on duty.
So, Medvedev promised to show his best tennis, and Rublev compared their match with a chess game.
However, the athlete did not have the best meeting and suffered a generally natural defeat - 7:6, 3:6, 6:7.
One of the main reasons for the failure was the serve that did not work until the final set.
As a result, his hitting the first one was a modest 66% versus 69% for the opponent, and her winnings were 80% versus 82%.
And the second one was won by only 44% of the points.
Also, the favorite, despite 24 aces (nine - from the opponent), regularly made mistakes.
There are only eight doubles in his liability, and three of them fell on the decisive game of the second installment.
Plus, 26 non-forced ones were committed.
In addition, Medvedev almost did not cling to someone else's pitch and converted only one break point out of two.
Rublev, on the other hand, acted famously on the back line and repeatedly attacked productively from forehand.
He also literally gushed with emotions and skillfully used them to play, taking over in most of the heavy draws.
In the opening game, he confidently led with a break 3:1, and with a score of 5:3 he went out to serve for the set.
But Andrei faltered and let his opponent take his serve for the first and last time.
Then, by inertia, he lost all the advantage he had gained and allowed his compatriot to transfer the case to a tie-break, although in the fateful 12th game he led 40:15 at the reception.
At the tie-break, Rublev did not experience any problems at first.
He secured a confident lead and, it seemed, was about to put an end to it.
With a score of 6:2, he had to take one point, but Andrei again miraculously allowed Medvedev to recoup, and then to take over - 9:7.
Incredibly, Daniel played seven set points.
A few overshadowed the beautiful denouement of the judge.
The referee on the tower in two episodes counted out after Rublev's blows, when the ball hit the line, and forced the tennis players to replay.
In both cases, Andrei eventually conceded.
And immediately after the end of the game, he approached the referee and swore obscenely at him, after which he threw the ball into the refrigerator.
But in the second set he was unstoppable.
The seventh racket of the planet quickly made a break, and already with the score 5:3 in his favor - another one.
Just in this game, the opponent managed to make three doubles at once.
After such an unsuccessful stretch, the favorite could well falter, given how difficult it was for him to start the match.
However, he, on the contrary, came to his senses and finally adjusted the pitch.
It did not take long to affect the result.
In the third installment, Rublev, who until then constantly imposed a fight at the reception, lost four games to zero.
However, he did not give his opponent either.
Not surprisingly, it came to a tie-break again.
And again, Rublev made all the fans nervous.
He again secured a comfortable handicap and led with three set points - 6:3.
However, the scenario was completely repeated: Medvedev began to win back one point after another and restored the status quo.
But this time, Andrei still did not allow him to take over.
Having realized the fifth set point, he put an end to it and beat the eminent compatriot for the second time in a row.
Moreover, he won the anniversary, 50th victory of the season and guaranteed himself the minimum groundwork for reaching the semi-finals.
Medvedev found himself in an extremely difficult position, because now he needs to achieve the best possible results in confrontations with Tsitsipas and Djokovic.
Already in the next round, he will meet with the great Serb, while Rublev will face off with a less powerful Greek.
And immediately after the end of the meeting, the victor did not hide his emotions.
He recalled the match with a compatriot in the quarterfinals of the US Open-2020, when he, also confidently leading in a tie-break, lost the first set and eventually flew out.
“I thought that this should not happen again, that something needs to be changed.
We must continue, because winning in one set, even if you lose in three, is still not bad, because this is a group round.
Therefore, we must fight for every point, for every game - that's how I managed to win, ”the official website of the tournament quoted Rublev as saying.
He also called the ending of the final game crazy and admitted that with great difficulty he tipped the scales in his favor.
“During the final tie-break, the draws were just crazy.
The last one had maybe 30 hits. I started having little cramps, and I thought: "Another hit, one more."
We must continue to play.
I'm sure Medvedev thought the same thing.
If you get a chance, you have to play, you need to take advantage of it, ”added Andrei.