Rublev Rallies Past Cilic In Cincinnati
Andrey Rublev was down but not out on Wednesday in Cincinnati. The Russian rallied for an emphatic 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 comeback victory against former World No. 3 Marin Cilic to reach the third round of the Western & Southern Open.
The last time the Russian star was in Ohio, two years ago, he was No. 70 in the FedEx ATP Rankings and on the mend from injury. He earned one of his biggest wins by upsetting seven-time champion Roger Federer.
Rublev is the fourth seed this edition and is pursuing his best ATP Masters 1000 run. Earlier this season, he advanced to his first semi-final at this level in Miami and his first final in Monte-Carlo.
[FOLLOW 1000]The 23-year-old has now won four consecutive matches against the Croatian and leads their ATP Head2Head rivalry 4-1. Rublev hit 11 aces and saved four of the five break points he faced to advance after two hours and two minutes.
Next up for the fourth seed will be 14th seed Alex de Minaur or Frenchman Gael Monfils. If Monfils wins that match, it will be his 500th tour-level victory.
In the same section of the draw, home favourite John Isner battled past 11th seed Jannik Sinner 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-4 after two hours and 35 minutes.
Sinner was serving at 4/2 in the second-set tie-break when Isner snuck a low, weak return over the net. From inside the service box, the Italian missed a drop shot into the net. Isner did not lose a point the rest of the tie-break, and that point is when the match changed.
The 36-year-old then earned his first break of the match in the third set to advance to the third round, in which he will play Frenchman Benoit Paire, who upset Canadian Denis Shapovalov on Tuesday.
Isner is growing in confidence after lifting the trophy in Atlanta and making the semi-finals in Toronto last week.
Did You Know?
Rublev, who qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time last year, began the week in fifth in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin. This year’s season finale will be played in Turin from 14-21 November.