So now Andrey Rublev was the top seed remaining in the Dubai draw. With five-time Dubai champion Novak Djokovic beaten in the quarters, the Russian was in pole position to win yet another ATP500 tournament—and his record at this level was firmly in his favour.
Four of the Russian’s nine titles had come at ATP500 level, all won on the bounce between Hamburg in 2020 to Rotterdam in 2021. That run proved to be a springboard to not one but two Masters finals last summer.
He arrived in Dubai this year after a run to both the singles and doubles titles in Marseille a day earlier—preceded by a semi finish in Rotterdam—and had continued to show his resilience. In his opener against Dan Evans, he played outstanding tennis, but then had to battle back from a set down against both Korean Soonwoo Kwon and Mackenzie McDonald.
He had said from the start of his Dubai campaign that he was tired, yet he kept producing the goods, and in the semis, he would have to do so again. There he played the No5 seed Hubert Hurkacz, who had beaten him in both previous matches, and had now cruised through three matches, including one over No4 seed Jannik Sinner, with consummate ease: 15 games dropped in total.
The tall, quietly spoken Pole had really made his mark during 2021, first with victory at the prestigious Miami Masters—one of three titles in the season—then a semi run at Wimbledon. It so happened that he beat Sinner, Rublev and Denis Shapovalov on his way to that Miami title, and with Shapovalov playing the second semi on Friday night, Hurkacz could find himself doing just the same in Dubai.
The walk onto court was heralded by the kind of fireworks usually reserved for finals, and Hurkacz took a few points to settle into his rhythm, but by deuce, he was up to speed on Rublev’s big baseline hitting, and held.
On paper, certainly, Hurkacz would have more in the tank in this match, and the speed of the Dubai courts rewarded his crisp, penetrating groundstrokes and big serve. Once into long rallies, his rangy frame and quick feet did indeed have Rublev in trouble in the next game, as he fired balls to forehand and backhand, beat Rublev at the net, and broke for 2-0.
Rublev, frustrated at his inability to handle the pace of things, pounded a ball over the stand and was duly warned. Within a minute, Hurkacz had held to love, 3-0, but Rublev regrouped and also held to love.
A seventh ace from Hurkacz sealed another easy hold: They had played five games in little more than a quarter of an hour. The Pole’s crisp aces and forehand strikes came thick and fast, and he served out the set to love, 6-3, with a 10th ace, and with a mere half hour on the clock.
Rublev needed to try and upset the rhythm of his opponent, and he was tempted to step inside the court during the opening service game of the second set. He then worked his first break point of the match, but in a flash, a 132mph ace wiped it out, followed by two more: the Pole’s tally was up to 15.
The Russian continued to hold firm, and he became the first man this week to win four games in a set against Hurkacz. But breaking his opponent was another matter, as the Pole threw in a love hold: 4-4.
Just as it was destined to head to a tie-break, Hurkacz produced his first double fault, and in the blink of an eye, a net-cord winner gave Rublev break points for the set. In a stunning rally, the Russian fired his big forehand for a winner, 7-5.
The third set became a fine display of power baseline play, driven by bold and aggressive tactics that switched between wide cross-court angles and creative changes of direction. Rublev had chances to break in the third game, but Hurkacz came up with big serves and winning one-two strikes. Then it was Rublev’s turn to fend off a break point, and he did so with his signature forehand down the line—twice.
The intensity grew as the match headed to its conclusion with neither man giving an inch. However, Rublev served first, so Hurkacz faced 4-5. The Pole’s serve had not let him down yet, and now he produced his 25th ace on the way to a love hold.
But could he get it to a tie-break, from 5-6, 0-30 down? A 26th ace said yes. And so this battle royal continued, 3-3 at the change of ends in the tie-break. Rublev did not challenge a baseline bullet from Hurkacz that had, in fact, just missed—would he live to regret it? No: he held his own two serves, and then found an acute angle to draw the first error on serve for two match points.
Yet another Polish ace saved the first, but Rublev, with the balls in his hand, roared on one last winner, 7-6(5), after almost two and a half hours, almost 200 points, 86 winners and just 36 unforced errors.
And so Rublev made it to a 15th final, where he will attempt to win a 10th title against either Shapovalov or Jiri Vesely.
He afterwards reaffirmed that, “I’m really tired—but somehow I keep saying to myself, keep fighting, and three matches in a row I play three sets. It’s incredible.”
But not before writing on the camera to the world at large: “No war please.” For the Russian had already been vocal about his feelings on discovering that his country had invaded that of the man with whom he had won the Marseille doubles title on Sunday, Ukrainian Denys Molchanov.
“In these moments, you realise that my match is not important. What’s happening is much more terrible… You realise how important it is to have peace in the world and to respect each other no matter what, to be united.”
Amen to that.
Rublev will play qualifier Jiri Vesely—the man who put out Djokovic—after he beat Shapovalov, 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 7-6(3), after three and a quarter hours.