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The fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev on Friday booked his spot in the semi-finals at the Monte-Carlo Masters as he clawed past German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 7-6(5).
Rublev hit with effortless power throughout the first set, striking nine winners to take the lead. After one hour and 39 minutes, he remained patient in the second set, finding the feet of the onrushing Struff at the net at key moments to earn his 16th tour-level win of the season. Rublev will next face Taylor Fritz as he aims to reach his third ATP Masters 1000 final and second in Monte Carlo. "I was able to show a great level through the match, except some moments where I started to show emotions and started to get negative. In the end it was a dramatic match, especially in the second set. But I was able to calm myself down and play a good tie-break and I was lucky to win in straight sets," ATP.com quoted Rublev saying in his on-court interview. The 25-year-old now leads Struff 3-2 in their ATP Head2Head series, avenging his loss against the 32-year-old in their previous meeting at Roland Garros in 2021. "I was trying to still be aggressive in the second set but he started to play a bit better. He started to play more aggressive. If I started to push, he would start to destroy me, so I have to be the one to hit the ball," Rublev said. Rublev opened his shoulders in the first set of a heavy-hitting clash in Monte Carlo, cleaning lines with his flat groundstrokes to pull Struff around. The fifth seed was then patient in the second set, recovering from a break advantage to advance. Struff leaves Monte-Carlo at No. 64 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, having risen 34 places since his run. In his second ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final, the qualifier defeated fourth seed Casper Ruud in the third round to earn his biggest win of the season. (ANI)
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