Mirra's tears: Andreeva lost offensively, Rublev will compete with Alcaraz
Andrey Rublev beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in a tense fight and reached the semi-finals of the Doha tournament for the second year in a row. Andrey won the first game with two breaks, and the second game with a tie—break, showing a very high level of play. He recalled that he can still compete at the level of the best of the best and may well defend the title in the capital of Qatar. Rublev will compete with Carlos Alcaraz, who was able to beat another of our compatriots, Karen Khachanov, to reach the finals. At almost the same time, Mirra Andreeva was fighting for the right to reach the semifinals of the "thousandth" in Dubai. The Russian showed excellent tennis, but still lost to Amanda Anisimova in the decisive tie-break.
Initiative from the forehand
Rublev and Tsitsipas' matches have become rare in recent years. The last time the two top teams faced each other was in 2022 at the group stage of the ATP Finals. Then the Russian won in three sets and advanced to the semifinals. Rublev was also considered a favorite this time. Yes, a day earlier Tsitsipas had outplayed Daniil Medvedev, delivering one of his best performances in recent months. But much of this success was due to Daniel's passivity.
Andrey offered Stefanos a radically different scenario: aggressive attacking tennis with constant pressure on the vulnerable Greek backhand. The plan worked. Rublev made two breaks in the first set and was very good at critical moments. The Russian played four break points at once.
The second set turned out to be even more intense. The opponents demonstrated the kind of tennis that allowed them to stay in the top 10 for many years. The Greek played very powerfully and was close to a break a couple of times, but Rublev held out.
It came to a tie-break, which started badly for Stefanos. The Greek made a mistake in length, and then gave away two more draws. Rublev acted fearlessly, playing well twice at the net and the score became 3:0. The decisive moment was the draw with the score 4:2. Andrey performed a super reception, and Tsitsipas fell painfully. I couldn't recover from this fall. Rublev won the remaining two goals without any problems and advanced to the semifinals.
"Stefanos is one of the best players on the tour, he's been proving it for years," Rublev said in an on—court interview. — He has amazing results. We've known each other for a very, very long time. In fact, the game was pretty simple: he likes to dictate the game from the forehand, and I love it too. The whole point was who would do it first. As soon as he took the initiative with a forehand, I was in danger. As soon as I took the initiative with a forehand, he was in danger. It all came down to who would be the first to control the draw and dictate the game.
Due to this victory, Andrey was able to even the score in the confrontation with Stefanos (6:6). Rublev could have faced his friend Karen Khachanov in the semifinals, but the Russian could not beat world number one Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard lost the first set, but then took control of the game and won the second and third games.
Tears of Myrrh
The Dubai tournament is traditionally considered a success for Russian women. Over the past five years, three of our compatriots have reached the final match of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Veronika Kudermetova (2022) and Anna Kalinskaya (2024) lost their finals, but Mirra Andreeva managed to take the title last year by defeating Clara Towson. She joined Elena Dementieva, who took the trophy at this tournament in 2008.
But this time our girls couldn't please the Russian tennis fans. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Diana Schneider, Lyudmila Samsonova were eliminated in the first round. Anastasia Zakharova and Anna Kalinskaya are in the second.
Only Myrrh remained in the grid. The Russian overcame the second round on the refusal of Daria Kasatkina, and for reaching the quarterfinals she scored with Romanian Jacqueline Cristian. In the sweltering heat, the rivals played giveaways for a long time, making one break after another, but in the end Mirra took the first set on character. In the second game, the swing continued, but Kristyan just didn't have the strength to finish.
In the quarterfinals, Andreeva fell to Amanda Anisimova. The American received the second starting number in the UAE. In the second round, the finalist of last year's Wimbledon and the US Open also did not enter the court due to the withdrawal of Barbora Krejcikova, and in the 1/8 finals she allowed Janice Tien to take only four games. Anisimova is in very good shape now, and in order to pass it, Andreeva had to show her best tennis.
Mirra fought well against the sixth racket of the world, won the first set. Moreover, she did it so confidently that many believed in her imminent victory. However, in the second game, the American's experience made itself felt. Amanda took her opponent's serve with the score 6:5 and brought the matter to the decisive game. In it, Anisimova acted from a position of strength and half an hour later went out to serve for the match with the score 5:3. The Russian showed her unyielding character, not only winning a break, but also taking three games in a row. As a result, she submitted for the match herself, but she failed to complete her comeback.
It came to a decisive tie-break, in which the American turned out to be stronger. After a missed opportunity, Mirra could not serve the first ball and made mistakes a couple of times in simple situations due to fatigue. So Anisimova earned four matchballs and soon sealed the victory.
Mirra failed to defend her title and will now drop to at least eighth place in the ranking. Amanda reached the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament for the fourth time in her career and now leads 2-0 in a personal confrontation with Andreeva.
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