Andrey Rublev defends his title in St. Petersburg - UBITENNIS

Andrey Rublev defends his title in St. Petersburg

By sampaolo
3 Min Read
MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - APRIL 16: Andrey Rublev of Russia hits a forehand during his match against Rafael Nadal of Spain during day six of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters at Monte-Carlo Country Club on April 16, 2021 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Andrey Rublev will defend his title in St. Petersburg. Last year Rublev won one of his five titles in 2020 in St. Petersburg beating Borna Coric in straight sets. On home soil he also won the Kremlin Cup in Moscow in 2019. In the past two seasons the player coached by Fernando Vicente he won five more titles in Doha, Adelaide, Hamburg, Vienna in 2020 and Rotterdam in 2021 and the Olympic gold medal in the mixed doubles with Anastasya Pavlyuchenkova beating Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev in the all-Russian final. Rublev finished runner-up to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte-Carlo and Alexander Zverev in Cincinnati. 

The Moscow-native player has a record of 8 wins and 4 defeats at the home tournament and also reached the quarter finals in 2019. 

Rublev will open his campaign against this year’s Winston Salem champion Ilya Ivashka or Laslo Djere. 

Fourth-seed Aslan Karatsev won his second ATP Tour title at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow and is looking to win back-to-back titles on home soil in St. Petersburg. Last week he won the Moscow tournament without dropping a set. The world number 19 player will make his third main draw appearance at this tournament and will start his campaign against either John Millman or wild card Yshai Oliel from Israel. Karatsev made his breakthrough this year reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open as a qualifier and winning two ATP Tour titles in Dubai and Moscow. He also finished runner-up to Matteo Berrettini in Belgrade. 

Second seed Denis Shapovalov reached the quarter final in 2018 and the semifinal in 2019. The young Canadian star will open against either Pablo Andujar or Federico Delbonis. He will be looking to win his second career title following Stockolm in 2019. 

The main singles draw features two US seeded players Taylor Fritz and Sebastian Korda. Fritz reached his first Masters 1000 semifinal at Indian Wells and will play in St. Petersburg for the second time in his career after losing to Cameron Norrie in the first round. Korda is making his debut in St. Petersburg. Korda won his maiden ATP Tour title in Parma last May and reached the final in Delray Beach and the quarter finals in a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time in his career in Miami. 

Top seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares are currently eighth in the ATP Doubles Race to Turin and are looking to secure the last qualifying spot. 

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