Karatsev & Rublev Crush Way Into Indian Wells Doubles Final
Aslan Karatsev dazzled on the baseline and at net Friday night as he teamed with Andrey Rublev to charge into the doubles final at the BNP Paribas Open.
The Russians fell behind 0-3 in the match tie-break against German Tim Puetz and New Zealand’s Michael Venus before winning 10 of the last 12 points to set up a 6-3, 4-6, 10-5 win.
Karatsev, who teamed with Rublev to win the Doha doubles title earlier in the year, crushed numerous clean winners off the return and baseline and also was explosive at net. For his part, Rublev’s massive forehand always kept Puetz and Venus on edge.
In Saturday’s final the ATP Cup-winning teammates will play the winner of seventh seeds John Peers and Filip Polasek and eighth seeded Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo.