Cincinnati Masters: Ruusuvuori defeats Rublev in three-set epic

Finn Emil Ruusuvuori advanced to the last 16 of the Cincinnati Masters by edging out Russian Andrey Rublev, 7-6 (10), 5-7, 7-6 (3) at the Linder Tennis Family Center on Tuesday night.

In an encounter that was about as close as a tennis match can be, Ruusuvuori found his best tennis when it was needed, winning a third-set tiebreak to send the No 7 seed home. It was an error-filled affair, with the pair striking 50 unforced errors between them.

Late in the third it looked as though Rublev might have swung the match in his favour, after a six minute rain delay interrupted play in the eighth game. The Russian came out firing and broke Ruusuvuori’s serve to level the match at 4-4, but was unable to maintain the momentum to break a second time.

In the deciding tiebreak, it was the Finn who had better composure, winning 7-3.

Ruusuvuori, ranked No 60, will face Australian lucky loser Alexei Popyrin next, having defeated French qualifier Corentin Moutet (6-4, 6-2) ahead of his victory.

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Tennis Majors

Cincinnati Masters, other second-round results (Linder Tennis Family Center, hard, USD 6.600.000, most recent results first):

• Frances Tiafoe vs. Stan Wawrinka
• Alexei Popyrin vs. Nicolas Jarry
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Novak Djokovic
• Hubert Hurkacz vs. Borna Coric
• Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Ben Shelton
• Lorenzo Sonego vs. Taylor Fritz
• Jannik Sinner vs. Dusan Lajovic
• Max Purcell vs. Casper Ruud
• Lorenzo Musetti vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Alexander Zverev vs. Yoshihito Nishioka
• Ugo Humbert vs. Tommy Paul
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jordan Thompson