Top seed Rublev downs Thiem in Gijon to reach fourth final of 2022

Top seed Andrey Rublev ended the run of Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-4 to reach the final of the Gijon Open on Saturday.

The Russian will play the winner of the match between American Sebastian Korda and Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the final.

Rublev is chasing his fourth title of 2022, having won in Marseille, Dubai and Belgrade. But he had to battle his demons in the first set when he had a point to lead 4-1 only to let it slip, before regrouping in time to claim his fourth straight win Thiem, who continues to improve each week after a serious wrist injury.

“When I was winning 4-1 with a break point for 5-1 it looks like the match is going my way and then I am at 5-4 with him serving,” Rublev said. “That’s not easy to accept, but I was lucky I played a really good game and Dominic helped me out a little bit.

“Then I felt more confident and I was able to win in two sets, which was the most important thing. This week I have been playing really well and I’ll try to show my best tennis of the week tomorrow.”

Rublev targeting ATP Finals spot

Rublev said he was keen to win another title to boost his hopes of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals.

“We’ll see, one more final, we’ll see what happens, and then there are going to be important tournaments and then we’ll see if I qualify for the finals or not,” Rublev said.

Ahead of his victory, the Russian edged out Belarusian Ilya Ivashka (6-3, 5-7, 6-4) and won against American Tommy Paul, the No 5 seed (7-5, 6-3).

Thiem, ranked No 165, beat Portuguese João Sousa (6-2, 6-0), American Marcos Giron (3-6, 6-4, 6-0) and Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, the No 4 seed (6-4, 6-3) earlier in the tournament.

Gijon ATP 250, other semi-final result (Palacio deportes, EUR 612.000):

• Sebastian Korda vs. Arthur Rinderknech

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