Rublev & Rune Clash To Decide Master Of Monte-Carlo

Heavy hitting will likely be the order of the day as the 2023 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters reaches its climax.

Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune, Top 10 stars with some of the biggest baseline weapons in the game, will attempt to hit through each other on Sunday to claim the trophy at the first clay-court ATP Masters 1000 event of the season. (Watch the final from 2:30pm CET/8:30am ET)

Both demonstrated their fighting qualities while rallying from a set down in rain-affected semi-finals on Saturday. Rublev completed a comeback against Taylor Fritz, while Rune clawed past Jannik Sinner in a thrilling evening encounter. Despite his physical exertions in that later match, the 19-year-old Dane needs no extra motivation as he chases his second ATP Masters 1000 crown.

“I expect for myself to push full. It’s the last push, it’s the last match of the tournament,” said Rune, who is the first teenager to reach the Monte-Carlo final since the then-19-year-old Rafael Nadal in 2006. “Obviously [Rublev] had three sets today as well, so he must be feeling the legs a little bit, I hope. I don’t know. You know, it’s going to be great.

“We played each other twice. It’s 1-1 head-to-head, so it’s going to be interesting, for sure.”

Those two tour-level meetings both took place in the past six months. Rublev was one of five Top 10 players that Rune beat during his stunning charge to the Rolex Paris Masters title last November, before the 12-time ATP Tour titlist exacted his revenge in dramatic fashion at January’s Australian Open.

Rublev saved two match points and then rallied from 0/5 in the deciding-set tie-break in a fourth-round classic in Melbourne. The 25-year-old will hope to stay similarly cool under pressure on the Monte-Carlo clay as he chases his maiden Masters 1000 crown.

Both players are chasing their first title of 2023, and their respective records for the year add further intrigue to a matchup that offers no clear favourite. Rublev is 17-8 on the season, a tally which includes a run to the Dubai final, while Rune is 17-7.

In terms of dealing with the scale of the occasion, however, the pair does have contrasting experiences to draw on. Rune raised his level spectacularly in his first Masters 1000 championship match to take down Novak Djokovic in Paris. Rublev, on the other hand, has lost out twice in finals at this level, including to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte-Carlo in 2021.

“[The key for me is] to not think,” said Rublev, when asked after beating Fritz whether he was thinking about his past final defeat to Tsitsipas. “Just to do the same thing like I did all the other days. Relax, do the treatment, have dinner, and that’s it. Not even thinking that I’m having something tomorrow.”

With both players so comfortable striking from the baseline, Rune’s ability to vary the pace of rallies with his drop shot could be crucial to deciding the outcome of the final. Rublev is aware of the Dane’s skill at disrupting his opponents from the pair’s previous matches, and the fifth seed views his ability to counter it as key to his chances on Court Rainier III.

“Holger is the guy who runs a lot, and he runs really well,” said Rublev on Saturday. “He reads the game really well. He’s very talented. He has a good touch. He doesn’t give you any rhythm, because as soon as he has a chance, he tries to do dropshots, or he tries to hit full power, [then] goes to the net.

“You need to take a risk to pass him, and at the net he’s really good. So you need really to pass these three, four shots to be able to give your rhythm and to dictate your style of the game.”

Rune’s tactics have certainly paid off this week. The Dane has lost only one set en route to the final and improved to 11-8 against Top 10 opponents with wins against Daniil Medvedev and Sinner in the Principality. He will step on court feeling confident against a player whom he trails by just 115 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Whoever prevails, it will represent a breakthrough moment for the new Monte-Carlo champion. Rublev, a five-time champion at ATP 500 level, is competing for the biggest title of his career, while a victory for Rune would see the Dane rise to a career-high No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday.