Rublev shocks Denis as he fights back to book St Petersburg final slot
Russia’s Andrey Rublev came from behind to defeat second seed Denis Shapovalov and book his place in the final of the St Petersburg Open.
Rublev – the world No. 10 and out to keep on track to reach the ATP Finals for the first time – progressed 4-6 6-3 6-4 and will face Borna Coric today.
The Croatian No. 7 seed, last year’s runner-up, also rallied after losing the first set to defeat Canada’s Milos Raonic 1-6 6-1 6-4.
At the Cologne BETT1HULKS Indoors, top seed Alexander Zverev will face Canadian Felix AugerAliassime in today’s final.
World No. 7 Zverev coasted through his semi-final against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, winning 7-5 7-6 (7-3).
The German has won nine of his past 10 matches on hard courts and reached his second final since the ATP Tour restarted in August.
Third seed AugerAliassime came through 6-3 1-6 6-3 against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, the tournament’s
No. 2 seed.
Elsewhere yesterday, Laslo Djere advanced to the final of the Sardegna Open after Lorenzo Musetti retired hurt from their semi.
The Serbian had come from behind to lead 2-6 6-2 4-1 when Italian Musetti was forced out by a right elbow problem.
Marco Cecchinato booked his place in today’s final with
a 6-1 6-0 win against lucky loser Danilo Petrovic. Meanwhile, Johanna Konta has brought her season to a close after pulling out of next week’s Ostrava Open. A representative for the British No. 1 has said that Konta is uncomfortable travelling to the Czech Republic because of rising coronavirus cases in the UK and across Europe. Konta joins a number of
high-profile withdrawals including Petra Kvitova, Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza, while Marketa Vondrousova has been removed from the tournament after testing positive for Covid-19.
Coco Gauff, though, has accepted a wild card into qualifying.
Konta began the season struggling to overcome a knee problem and ends it ranked
13th with an underwhelming record of eight victories and nine defeats.
The 29-year-old won only one grand slam match and her best performance was reaching the semi-finals of the Western & Southern Open in New York in August.
Konta will now focus on preparing for the start of the new season in Australia, where players must undergo a two-week period of quarantine on arrival Down Under.