No Stopping Andrey: Rublev Strengthens Nitto ATP Finals Hopes In St. Petersburg

Third seed Andrey Rublev swept into the St. Petersburg Open semi-finals on Friday and moved into the final automatic qualification spot for next month’s Nitto ATP Finals.

Rublev needed just 63 minutes to beat Cameron Norrie 6-2, 6-1 and rise to No. 9 on 3,109 points, 34 points ahead of 10th-placed Matteo Berrettini (3,075), in the battle to clinch one of the two remaining singles spots at the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 15-22 November. Berrettini will lose 200 points on 9 November from his round-robin win at 2019 Nitto ATP Finals.

The 22-year-old Russian will next face second-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov or fifth seed Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in the St. Petersburg Open semi-finals on Saturday. Ruble trails Shapovalov 1-2 in their ATP Head2Head series and is 1-1 against Wawrinka.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has not halted Rublev’s momentum this season. He has a 32-7 match record in 2020 — 15-3 with two titles (the Qatar ExxonMobil Open and Adelaide International) prior to the five-month suspension, and 17-4 with one title (the Hamburg European Open) since the ATP Tour resumed on 22 August.

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