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Years from now, we could all be looking back at it as the start of a great FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry.
Twenty-year-old Andrey Rublev of Russia fought off 17-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 on Thursday at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag, denying the Canadian teenager his biggest win to date.
Rublev, the fourth seed and defending champion, was playing in his first match in three months because of a stress fracture in his lower back, and how much the return victory meant to him was evident after Auger-Aliassime's final backhand landed wide. Rublev bent over and buried his face in his hands.
“I was super happy because it's my first match since three months, and I was really happy to win it. It was a little bit emotional moment for me,” Rublev told ATPWorldTour.com.
He wasn't sure what to expect in his return, but Rublev was pleased with his fight and the outcome. “In the end, everything was better than I expected,” he said.

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Auger-Aliassime, who's the youngest player (17) in the Top 150 of the ATP Rankings (No. 144), was aggressive and confident throughout the two-hour, 30-minute second-round match, pushing Rublev behind the baseline and frustrating the Russian, who finished runner-up at last year's inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.
Rublev, however, employed his experience and composed himself well in the third set after Auger-Aliassime led by a break 3-1. Rublev won the final five games, breaking twice before serving it out.
The No. 35 player in the ATP Rankings is looking to go back-to-back in Umag. Last year at the ATP World Tour 250-level event, Rublev was the first lucky loser in eight years to win an ATP World Tour title. He will next meet sixth seed Robin Haase, who beat Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Argentine qualifier Marco Trungelliti, who famously drove from Buenos Aires to Paris to play in Roland Garros as a lucky loser, beat Hungary's Marton Fucsovics 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to advance to his first tour-level quarter-final. Trungelliti will next play Russian Evgeny Donskoy, who beat second seed Damir Dzumhur 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4.

Broniący tytułu Andriej Rublow w dwóch setach przegrał z Robinem Haase w ćwierćfinale rozgrywanego na kortach ziemnych turnieju ATP World Tour 250 w Umagu. Do półfinału awansowali też Marco Cecchinato, Marco Trungelliti i Guido Pella.
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Andriej Rublow stracił szansę na obronę wywalczonego przed 12 miesiącami tytułu. Rosjanin, który w ubiegłym sezonie w turnieju ATP w Umagu zdobył pierwsze i jak dotychczas jedyne mistrzostwo z głównym cyklu, z tegoroczną edycją zmagań w chorwackim kurorcie pożegnał się w ćwierćfinale. W piątek, mimo ambitnej postawy, przegrał 3:6, 6:7(6) z Robinem Haase.
Występ w Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag był dla Rublowa pierwszym startem po trzymiesięcznej absencji spowodowanej kontuzją pleców. Co ciekawe, ostatnim tenisistą, którego Rosjanin pokonał przed tą wymuszoną pauzą, był właśnie Haase (w I rundzie w Monte Carlo). W piątek Holender zrewanżował się za tamtą porażką i odniósł premierowe zwycięstwo nad moskwianinem w ich trzeciej konfrontacji.

Rozstawiony z numerem szóstym Haase, dla którego to pierwszy półfinał od styczniowej imprezy w Auckland, o finał powalczy z Guido Pellą. Argentyńczyk w 1/4 finału pokonał 7:6(3), 7:5 Dusana Lajovicia, wykorzystując dwie z siedmiu piłek na przełamanie.

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Bardzo pewne zwycięstwo odniósł Marco Cecchinato. Oznaczony numerem trzecim Włoch w 81 minut wygrał 6:4, 6:1 z Laslo Djere, zapisując na swoim koncie cztery przełamania i 65 proc. wygranych punktów przy własnym serwisie.

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W 1/2 finału Cecchinato zmierzy się ze swoim imiennikiem, Marco Trungellitim. Argentyński kwalifikant w piątek również stracił pięć gemów, tyle że w pojedynku z Jewgienijem Donskojem. Wygrywając, Trungelliti pierwszy raz w karierze awansował do najlepszej "czwórki" turnieju głównego cyklu.

Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag, Umag (Chorwacja)
ATP World Tour 250, kort ziemny, pula nagród 501,3 tys. euro
piątek, 20 lipca

ćwierćfinał gry pojedynczej:

Marco Cecchinato (Włochy, 3) - Laslo Djere (Serbia) 6:4, 6:1
Robin Haase (Holandia, 6) - Andriej Rublow (Rosja, 4) 6:3, 7:6(6)
Guido Pella (Argentyna) - Dusan Lajović (Serbia) 7:6(3), 7:5
Marco Trungelliti (Argentyna, Q) - Jewgienij Donskoj (Rosja) 6:1, 6:4

Rublev also through to the last eight
The #NextGenATP is alive and well in Washington, D.C.

Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas led the charge on Thursday evening at the Citi Open, defeating Aussie James Duckworth 6-3, 6-4 in 66 minutes to reach his sixth ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season. Prior to 2018, Tsitsipas had just four tour-level wins. With his victory against the 26-year-old, he now has 24 in this campaign alone.


The 19-year-old finished 2017 at No. 91 in the ATP Rankings. But thanks to his breakout efforts, he is projected to crack the Top 30 on Monday, regardless of results for the rest of the week. Tsitsipas will face a stiff challenge as he attempts to make the semi-finals in the nation's capital, as 2017 Nitto Finals runner-up and third seed David Goffin awaits. The pair has split their two FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, with Tsitsipas earning his first Top 10 win last year in Antwerp against the Belgian.

Russian Andrey Rublev, who is playing in his third tournament back from a three-month hiatus due to a stress fracture in his lower back, won two matches on Thursday. After finishing off his victory against American Tommy Paul, he later beat another American, Noah Rubin, 6-3, 6-2 in 67 minutes.

Rublev just one of his three matches in Umag and Gstaad, but is showing good form in his Washington, D.C. debut. The 20-year-old will now face the winner of sixth seed Lucas Pouille and American Denis Kudla. The Russian is currently in eighth in the ATP Race To Milan, one point behind Spaniard Jaume Munar for the seventh automatic qualifying spot into the Next Gen ATP Finals, which will take place from 6-10 November in Milan.

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Did You Know?
Tsitsipas will attempt to earn his fourth Top 10 win against Goffin. On top of his victory against the Belgian last year, the Greek beat Dominic Thiem in Barcelona and Kevin Anderson in Estoril

Russian to face fellow #NextGenATP De Minaur in the semis
Andrey Rublev may have missed three months due to a stress fracture in his lower back. But in just his third tournament back the #NextGenATP Russian looks as if he hasn't missed a beat in Washington, D.C.

The No. 16 seed defeated home favourite Denis Kudla 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the Citi Open semi-finals, where he will play fellow #NextGenATP player Alex de Minaur later on Saturday. It is the first time since 1995 Buenos Aires (Moya, Mantilla, Corretja, Novak) that four 21-and-under competitors have reached the semi-finals at a tour-level event. In the top half of the draw, 21-year-old top seed Alexander Zverev faces 19-year-old Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas for a spot in Sunday's championship match.

"It was a really tough three months for me," Rublev told Tennis Channel. "I was not even thinking about how I'm going to play, if I would play good or bad. I was just missing being on court a lot. I was missing competing and finally I'm here, I'm in the semis and I'm really happy."


Rublev is pursuing his second ATP World Tour title, after triumphing in Umag last season as a lucky loser. The 20-year-old, who has won all three of his matches this week in straight sets, was the top seed at last year's inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. Regardless of the rest of the week's results, the four semi-finalists in the nation's capital will be placed in the Top 6 in the ATP Race To Milan on Monday. Zverev, who competed in the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals, is third in the ATP Race To London.

"I'm the old guy this week," Zverev said. "Being the oldest semi-finalist this week shows that our Next Gen players are playing absolutely amazing tennis and they're all on the come up and we could all do well in big tournaments. It's great to see and hopefully this will not be the last time, but in the future this will happen more often."

To advance to the semi-finals, Rublev won 82 per cent of first-serve points and saved all three break points he faced to move on after 74 minutes. It will be his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against De Minaur.

ATP Race To Milan

Did You Know?
When Rublev triumphed in Umag last year, he was the seventh lucky loser to win an ATP World Tour title and the first to do so since Rajeev Ram triumphed in Newport in 2009. Since then, Leonardo Mayer and Marco Cecchinato have also been victorious as lucky losers.