Rublev Completes Historic 21 & Under SF Lineup

Andrey Rublev may have missed three months due to a stress fracture in his lower back. But in just his third tournament back the #NextGenATP Russian looks as if he hasn’t missed a beat in Washington, D.C.

The No. 16 seed defeated home favourite Denis Kudla 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the Citi Open semi-finals, where he will play fellow #NextGenATP player Alex de Minaur later on Saturday. It is the first time since 1995 Buenos Aires (Moya, Mantilla, Corretja, Novak) that four 21-and-under competitors have reached the semi-finals at a tour-level event. In the top half of the draw, 21-year-old top seed Alexander Zverev faces 19-year-old Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas for a spot in Sunday’s championship match. 

“It was a really tough three months for me,” Rublev told Tennis Channel. “I was not even thinking about how I’m going to play, if I would play good or bad. I was just missing being on court a lot. I was missing competing and finally I’m here, I’m in the semis and I’m really happy.”

Rublev is pursuing his second ATP World Tour title, after triumphing in Umag last season as a lucky loser. The 20-year-old, who has won all three of his matches this week in straight sets, was the top seed at last year’s inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. Regardless of the rest of the week’s results, the four semi-finalists in the nation’s capital will be placed in the Top 6 in the ATP Race To Milan on Monday. Zverev, who competed in the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals, is in third in the ATP Race To London. 

To advance to the semi-finals, Rublev won 82 per cent of first-serve points and saved all three break points he faced to move on after 74 minutes. It will be his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against De Minaur.

Did You Know?
When Rublev triumphed in Umag last year, he was the seventh lucky loser to win an ATP World Tour title and the first to do so since Rajeev Ram triumphed in Newport in 2009. Since then, Leonardo Mayer and Marco Cecchinato have also been victorious as lucky losers.