Rublev Upsets Berdych To Move On In Beijing

Andrey Rublev overcame a set and a break deficit to defeat World No. 20 Tomas Berdych, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 in one hour and 48 minutes at the China Open in Beijing on Thursday.

The #NextGenATP star trailed the Czech 1-6, 1-3 before storming back to win 11 of the next 13 games, severely damaging Berdych’s London dreams of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals.

After the former World No. 4 saved a break point to hold for 3-1 in the second set, his 19-year-old Russian opponent broke his serve on three consecutive occasions to completely turn the tide of the match, winning 64 per cent of points in the third set.

For Rublev, Thursday’s victory was the third Top 20 win of his young career, after beating both Grigor Dimitrov (No. 9) and David Goffin (No. 14) at this year’s US Open. He is now into his fourth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season, after going on to win his first title as a lucky loser at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open in Umag this July.

Berdych was in pursuit of his first title of the season and was attempting to get back in the winners’ circle in Beijing after capturing the trophy in 2011. He was also sitting in 14th place in the Emirates ATP Race To London, and could have significantly increased his chances of qualifying with a strong week.

Rublev will now face the second seed, Alexander Zverev, who defeated veteran Fabio Fognini.