Andrey Rublev reaches Shanghai Masters final with victory over friend Grigor Dimitrov to set up Hubert Hurkacz tie

Andrey Rublev defeated Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(7) 6-3 on Saturday to reach the final of the Shanghai Masters.

Rublev, seeded fifth, will meet Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in China on Sunday as he saved a set point in a first set that ran 76 minutes before claiming a tie-break.

He then went down 2-0 in the second set before rallying to victory.

“It’s not easy when you win matches against friends, because you feel both sides,” said Rublev, who is friends with Bulgarian Dimitrov. “You feel sad, but at the same time you want to win. It’s a mix of feelings.”

Both players hit heavy from the baseline, and with Rublev 3-2 up in the first-set tie-break, Dimitrov claimed that a serve from his opponent had clipped the net, but nothing was called. The Russian offered his friend the chance to replay the point but Dimitrov turned down the offer.

“I feel sorry for the situation in the tie-break at 3-2, because I wanted to replay the point,” added Rublev. “Grigor behaved like a real champion and said, ’It’s not [your fault], so he gave me the point. Maybe because of this point I was able to win the tie-break.”

At 2-0 down, Rublev won five consecutive games to get within a game of victory as Dimitrov began to tire.

Rublev is yet to drop a set in Shanghai, and a win on Sunday will help cement his place in the rankings in order to compete at the Nitto ATP Finals at the end of the season.

“I’m thinking only to rest and try to recover for tomorrow, because Hubi is so tough to play,” said Rublev of Hurkacz. “He’s one of the players that you don’t want to face because he can beat everyone.

“With his style of the game, the way he serves, the way he hits the ball. We’ll see, I just want to take my time to recover and to be as [ready] as possible for tomorrow.”