IT could be billed as a David against Goliath battle when Andrey Rublev and Lorenzo Sonego do battle in the 2020 ATP Erste Bank Open final in Vienna. Rublev is on a hotstreak having won 18 of his past 19 matches, with a loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas at Roland Garros the only blemish. By contrast, Sonego could not even make it through qualifying, losing to Aljaz Bedene before getting a late second chance as a lucky loser thanks to Diego Schwartzman‘s withdrawal. Since then he has knocked off four top 40 players, most notably world number one, Novak Djokovic.

There is little doubt both players deserve to be in the final, as Rublev too claimed a massive scalp by defeating second seed Dominic Thiem in the quarter finals, and then Kevin Anderson today in the semi-finals. It would be a fitting title for the rising Russian considering he has ousted the 2019 and 2018 champions back-to-back. Rublev won 6-4 4-1 before Anderson succumbed to a right leg injury 65 minutes into the contest. By that stage Rublev was well on top any way, producing 11 aces and only one double fault, to six and five by his South African opponent.

Rublev won a whopping 87 and 50 per cent off his first and second serve, dropping just four points off his first serve, and never facing a break point. By comparison, a crucial break in the first and then a second one in the second from five chances helped the Russian go a set and break up before Anderson had to call it quits. The former Top 10 player who is now ranked just outside the top 100, could not get his serve going and fell to Rublev for the second time this year after a loss at Roland Garros last month.

“I don’t know why it’s going so well. I have such an amazing team, such amazing friends around me that always support me and probably that’s why I’m playing so good,” Rublev said post-match. “I came here thinking that I have nothing to lose. “I already did a really great season, so I came here to enjoy, to do my best, to fight for every point, every match, and now here I am in the final. I want to keep thinking in the same way and we’ll see what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

Remarkably now, Rublev is dominating the ATP 500 circuit winning the past two tournaments and going for third straight. More remarkably, the Russian is on the verge of becoming the most successful player this year with an unmatched fifth title – moving one clear of Djokovic – if he can salute against Sonego tomorrow.

“I was not even thinking about it,” Rublev said. “I’m serving really well this week, so we’ll see. You never know what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

The man standing in his way is an Italian with nothing to lose having been a lucky loser this tournament, and making it all the way through to the decider. The world number 42 triumphed over Dan Evans in the semi-final, winning 6-3 6-4 in an hour and 21 minutes to set up a date with Rublev. Sonego hit three aces and only dropped 11 points on serve in a dominant performance once again, only broken once whilst breaking the Brit three times during the straight sets win.

“I’m really happy,” Sonego said post-match. “After yesterday it was not easy playing against Evans because he has a good talent. He has a good backhand and it was not easy. But today I won and I am so happy.”

Evans is not a hard hitter, but a smart one. In this match though, Sonego was able to overcome Evans’ strong backhand to move through and already move up 10 spots to just one behind Evans. Should Sonego triumph against Rublev, he will advance to 29th in the world.

“This week I’ve improved my tennis for sure. I improved my return, my serve,” Sonego said. “I worked so hard and now I have the confidence to win this match and the experience. I needed to [get] some experience.”

Rublev and Sonego have never faced off on the ATP Tour, making it one to watch. While Rublev will be strong favourite for the clash and his fifth title of the year and seventh overall, Sonego is not without a chance considering the form the Italian is in, as he eyes off a second ATP career title.

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