LONODN (Reuters) - Andrey Rublev moved into his third Masters final after fighting back from a set down in Monte Carlo to beat American Taylor Fritz 5-7 6-1 6-3 on Saturday to set up a showdown with Danish teenager Holger Rune.
Going into the semi-final Fritz had the upper hand with a three-match winning streak against Rublev, but it was the Russian who prevailed in an encounter that was suspended for nearly two hours in the final set due to rain.
“It was really tough against Taylor to whom I lost three times. Very tough for me mentally to play against him,” fifth seed Rublev said.
“But I started to feel I will have chances. And then we had a great match and I was able to win.”
Fritz started poorly and was broken in the first service game as the American stared quizzically at the surface he seemed to have mastered when knocking out defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was in the stands to watch the semifinal.
Fritz quickly found himself 2-0 down and even smashed his racquet in frustration, but he turned things around by engaging Rublev in long rallies to set up searing winners to level the set at 3-3 and then again at 5-5 as the pair traded breaks.
Rublev had the opportunity to serve for the set but Fritz converted his fourth consecutive break point to take the opener as his rattled Russian opponent requested a bathroom break before the second set.
But as the sky grew overcast, Rublev was unstoppable in the second set as he fired 11 winners while Fritz lost his range and failed to convert any break points, making 17 unforced errors as the Russian forced the match into a decider.