After a great run, Andrey Rublev has made it to the final of the 2023 Shanghai Masters. He will be challenged by Hubert Hurkacz in his quest for his second ATP 1000 title of the year. Having downed some in-form names like Tommy Paul and Grigor Dimitrov, he will be confident of mastering Asia like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have done in their careers respectively.
Currently ranked World No.7, a title triumph will boost Andrey Rublev to a career-high World No.4. He is fifth in the ATP Race to Turin rankings and he would be looking to seal his qualification for the season-end championships. He has won 14 singles titles in his career, including the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters. His numbers put him alongside Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz, but his pedigree of titles won pegs him back. Another ATP 1000 title will boost his stature to a great extent.
Rublev aims to add China as 3rd Asian country conquered
If Rublev lifts the Shanghai Masters trophy, he will join an elite club of players to have won in at least three Asian countries 6 years after they won their first ATP title. He has a golden opportunity to win a title in China, which would be the third nation in Asia where he has won an ATP championship. That exclusive list that features Federer, Nadal and Medvedev.
Rublev won his first title in Asia at the 2020 Qatar Open, an ATP 250 tournament. Seeded second behind Stan Wawrinka, he won the title without dropping a set, defeating Corentin Moutet in the final. He conquered the UAE two years later, winning the 500-level 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships. Rublev emerged triumphant in a competitive pool that featured the likes of Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner. Co-incidentally, he defeated Hurkacz in the semi-finals and Jiri Vesely in the final to lift his second singles trophy in Asia.
Roger Federer leads the list, winning in five different Asian countries from 2001 to 2007. He first won the Dubai Tennis Championships in 2003, a title he would win a record 8 times. By 2006, he had lifted trophies in Thailand, China, UAE, Qatar, and Japan.
On the other hand, from 2004 to 2010, Rafael Nadal started his Asian journey with the 2005 China Open, adding the UAE (Dubai) the following year and Japan in 2010. Not to forget, Nadal also clinched the gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Andrey Rublev would surely go past Novak Djokovic if he wins in Shanghai on Sunday in this regard. Djokovic had won the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai in 2008 and the Dubai Tennis Championships in 2009. But he had to wait for a decade to win a title in a third Asian country, picking up the 2019 Japan Open.
Of Rublev’s contemporaries, only Medvedev has secured titles in at least three Asian nations. If the 2017-2023 period is taken into account, the World No.3 first won the 2018 Japan Open and then bagged the 2019 Shanghai Masters. This year, he lifted the Dubai Tennis Championships and Qatar Open trophies, hence winning titles in 4 Asian countries.
Andrey Rublev vs Hubert Hurkacz live streaming and head-to-head
The much-awaited title clash between Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz is scheduled for Sunday, October 15. The Shanghai Masters final will begin not before 4:30 p.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET). The match will be held at Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena and American viewers can livestream it on the Tennis Channel.
The head-to-head between the two finalists is tied 2-2. Rublev has won their last two matches, most recently defeating Hurkacz in the Round of 16 of the 2022 Indian Wells Masters. The Russian would have a slight psychological advantage, not having lost to the Polish player since 2021.
Hurkacz comes in as the underdog, ranked 17th as compared to his opponent being ranked 7th. He could jump to 11th in the ATP Race to Turin, within touching distance of the eighth and final qualifying spot. Rublev, meanwhile, would almost ensure his qualification for the fourth consecutive ATP Finals if he lifts the crown. There is a lot more at stake for both the players than just the title itself.
