Stefanos Tsitsipas falls to player with "few tools," as Andrey Rublev proves the canvas master in ATP Finals win

Increased depth, power, focus and 36 winners sparked Andrey Rublev’s 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas today at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. This being each man’s last match in the round-robin phase, Rublev’s one hour and 42-minute victory put him in the semifinals of this event for the first time in three appearances. In Saturday night’s semi, Rublev will play Casper Ruud, an opponent that Rublev has beaten in four of six prior matches.

“I didn't give up. I kept fighting and playing,” Rublev said on ATP Tour.com. “I lost my emotions a bit when I lost a stupid game at 40/0 in the first set. I let my emotions go. But then I just kept fighting and playing and you will have chances. I thought I would have chances if I just gave my best. I managed to turn the match around and I am happy to be in the semis.”

If hardly a great comeback in the quantitative terms of a troubling score deficit, the early stages gave little indication of a Rublev victory. Tsitsipas thoroughly dominated the first set. He broke Rublev at 1-2, won 20 of 22 points on his serve and closed out the first set, 6-3, in 32 minutes. Backed by superb serving, Tsitsipas broke open rally after rally with his forehand.

Even as the second set began, Rublev teetered. In the opening game of the second set, he served at love-30. Perhaps aided by a racquet change after the first set, Rublev escaped from that situation and began to dig into more of the rallies during Tsitsipas’ service games.

The plot conclusively made its 180 degree turn in the eighth game. Serving at 3-4, 15-all, Tsitsipas’ forehand betrayed him—one wide, the next into the net. At 30-40, Rublev lined a crisp down-the-line forehand to go ahead 5-3. Though Tsitsipas held a break point in the next game, another sharp down-the-line drive from Rublev—this one a backhand—closed out that opening. Two points later, Rublev wrapped up the set.

In theory, by this stage it should have been anyone’s match. But Tsitsipas by then had slowly become far less proficient. Give lots of credit to Rublev for making that happen, thanks largely to his sustained concentration. Another factor was the ongoing struggle between Tsitsipas and his coaching team. Early in the second set, miffed at his courtside-based parents, Tsitsipas fired a ball in their direction. This was clearly a sign of mental wavering.

The physical unraveling came soon enough, when Tsitsipas was broken at 1-1. By this stage, Rublev was thoroughly in control, commanding the rallies with well-placed serves and his trademark combination of hard, deep forehands and backhands.

Rublev’s return proficiency surfaced mostly vividly later in the third set. Seeking to stay only one service break down, Tsitsipas served at 2-4. At 40-30 and advantage Tsitsipas, Rublev laced untouchable down-the-line forehand return winners—the second off a 131 m.p.h. serve. After failing to convert two more game points, Tsitsipas at deuce double-faulted twice in a row. From there, Rublev held at 15. Over the course of the third set, Rublev had won 27 of 33 points on his serve. Hardly revealing fine sportsmanship, Tsitsipas afterwards cited Rublev’s “few tools” as the keys to his victory.

Said Rublev, “But I don't think that I beat him because of few tools. If you take our match, every match, we have tough battles. This year I lost to him twice in three sets, and now I beat him in three sets.” As any smart tennis fan knows, subjective judgments whither in the face of objective effectiveness. Today in Turin, Rublev proved the master of the canvas.