Feisty Andrey Rublev said he is trying to curb his “ugly” behaviour after beating Grigor Dimitrov at the Shanghai Masters on Saturday to set up a final with big-serving Hubert Hurkacz.
Russia’s Rublev defeated Dimitrov 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 in their semi-final and is yet to drop a set in Shanghai as he closes on his second Masters 1000 crown of the year.
In the first semi-final, the 16th-seeded Hurkacz from Poland blasted his way past Sebastian Korda of the United States 6-3, 6-4.
Rublev, the highest-ranked player left in the tournament at seven in the world, cut an angry figure at times and was especially irked by what appeared to be a drone overhead early on.
He also repeatedly whacked the net at one point and then said, speaking of his outbursts: “It is not helping me at all and it looks really ugly.”
The 25-year-old composed himself to get out of a hole at 0-40 in the first set to eventually hold serve for 3-3 in a game lasting 10 minutes.
Rublev then pounced at the first glimpse of an opportunity to break Bulgaria’s Dimitrov for 6-5, only to be broken back immediately by the 18th seed as he served for the set.
The duo exchanged more thunderous groundstrokes in the tiebreak and both squandered a set point before Rublev sealed the set in 76 minutes when Dimitrov fired a forehand wide.
The 32-year-old Dimitrov is playing some of the best tennis of his career and broke at the start of the second set, with Rublev reacting by smacking the net three times with his racquet.
But Rublev, who has won 14 titles, got the break back for 2-2 and then repeated the trick to race to victory as Dimitrov quickly ran out of steam.
Rublev, who triumphed at the Monte Carlo Masters in April, said it was “special” to be in the final in Shanghai but felt sorry for the beaten Dimitrov, someone he regards as a friend.
“After the match, I told him I’m really sorry,” he said.
