All the determination and suffering that Andrey Rublev knew how to merge last Monday did not help him this Wednesday before Novak Djokovic. The second day of the Red Group started and it was at stake who would go to bed leading this quartet. That man was the Serbian, who barely needed 68 minutes to separate the Russian (6-4, 6-1) and become the second tennis player of these Nitto ATP Finals to confirm their presence in the semifinals of the Turin team. In case there were doubts about who was the favorite this week, here is a meeting to clear up the doubt.
Before counting what happened in the first set, we must be fair to Rublev. The Russian stood up to Djokovic in every game, he was solid with his serve, he showed character during those initial 40 minutes, but perfection was found on the other side. Impossible to put the fang against a man who won all the points he played with his first serve (17/17), with very high percentages from the bottom and zero cracks in break balls. In fact, there was only one break opportunity in the entire set, the one that the Russian neglected at the last point, where Novak connected an anthological parallel backhand to start writing his story.
Andrey, who had already come from a maze against Medvedev two days ago, paid for his frustration by destroying his racket and fleeing to the locker room to reduce the fire that had started in his head. Djokovic, knowing the value of that outcome, smiled at his box and spent his time meditating on the bench. The equality of the contest had vanished in a single shot, although it serves the great champions with a detail to take over the stage. Just in case, it was best to wait until the start of the second sleeve to see if there was any news.
The tennis player from Moscow returned from the locker room with the obligation to recover his concentration as soon as possible, forget that slip and make Novak see that he was no longer that player who delivers matches due to a lack of maturity and self-control. But there was the Serb to put a trap in his path again and reveal the truth. Two games, he did not need more. Once again the Balkan stepped on the accelerator and ruined any sign of recovery from his opponent. It is not that he was not a Serbian monologue either, Rublev’s was already there for a monologue, continually recriminating each gesture and about to glare at the closest person with his gaze. I was KO
RUSSIAN BLOCKADE
It is assumed that as the games went by, Rublev’s head would cool down, but it was the opposite: each game he lost, the Russian left a bit of life on the court, while at the same time delivering a greater portion of the victory. to his rival. Once you get to this point, I don’t need to tell you what happened, welcome to the most mental sport there is. He is not the current No. 1 in the world, but Absent he is playing as if he were. The man from Belgrade ended up closing the set with a manual 6-1 and securing his ticket to the semifinals of the tournament. Now, let Medvedev and Tsitsipas stick.