ANDREY Rublev‘s sensational 2020 season rolled on in Russia yesterday with the home nation hero taking out his fourth title of the season – and sixth of his career – by winning the St. Petersburg Open. Rublev won 7-6 6-4 in a hard-fought one-hour and 39-minute performance to shake off determined Croatian Borna Coric and move into the top eight players in the world.

Now well in contention to compete at the ATP Finals, the 22-year-old has not lost on home soil in more than 12 months after winning the Kremlin Cup last year. The victory meant he moved to 34-7 for the season and levelled with world number one Novak Djokovic with the four titles won this year. He also achieved the feat after the death of his grandmother mid-tournament.

“On Friday, I lost my grandmother so… it was really tough,” Rublev said post-match. “I am happy that this is the way I finished the tournament and it is a really special tournament for me.”

Rublev dominated his serve, winning 86 per cent of his first serve points off a 61 per cent serving efficiency, whilst also collecting 17 of 24 off his second serve. In total, he only dropped 12 points on serve, never facing a break point during the match, but despite this, only broke once himself from three chances. Coric had more aces than Rublev (8-7) and served at a higher efficiency (67 per cent), but struggled off his second serve, capitalising on just 10 of 25 occasions.

“I feel happy. This one is really special for me,” Rublev said. “I think this one is the most special for me, for the moment, and will always be special.”

It was the fourth consecutive time the up and coming Russian had found a way to defeat the Croatian, winning the ATP 500 event to move into eighth in the world and overtake Diego Schwartzman in the process. Rublev admitted the ATP Finals was in the back of his mind, but he was just focusing on playing the best tennis he could.

“I know I have a really good chance to qualify, but still it is not 100 per cent yet,” Rublev said. “This year, I didn’t expect that I would have a chance, so in the end nothing is going to change for me. Even if I don’t make it, the season was really good for me anyway. If I make it, it is really good news. [It is] one chance to compete against the best players, to do my best.”

There was always a high level of uncertainty about how players would perform post the COVID-19 break, but Rublev is amongst the top performers, racking up a 19-4 record and winning two ATP 500 crowns in Hamburg and St. Petersburg to go with his back-to-back titles in Doha and Adelaide to kick off 2020.

“I am proud and I am happy with the way I am performing,” Rublev said. “I try not to think about it. I try to focus on the things I still need to improve, because there are so many things I can improve and I have to improve if I want to be at the same level or even better.”

Having originally planned to play in Antwerp, Rublev will take a well-earned rest for the time being, as will Coric who moved up three ranking places to 24th in the world.

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