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Patna : World No 7 Andrey Rublev, 23, Russia, edged past Top seed & World No 2 Daniil Medvedev, 25, Russia, in a close three- set contest in semi-final on August 21, 2021, late night, to move into the final of Western & Southern Open, an ATP Masters 1,000 hardcourts tournament, at Cincinati, Ohio, USA. Rublev will face 3rd seed Alexander Zverev, 24, Germany, in final on August 23, 2021, at 2 am.
Rublev, the 4th seed, defeated Medvedev 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in an all-Russian semi-final in 2 hr 21 minutes rallying back from one set down. Medvedev though hammered 8 Aces in the match to 2 by Rublev. Both the players won 4 games each in a row during the match. Rublev, however, won 4 brek points to 3 by Medvedev. Rublev committed 5 double faults to 3 by Medvedev. Rublev, in all, won 94 points to 91 points by Medvedev.
In the second semi-final the same night, World No 5 Zverev beat 2nd seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, 23, Greece, in a three-set thriller 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in 2hr 41 minutes to enter the final of the tournament. The German hammered 15 Aces during the match to 8 by World No 3 Tsitsipas. Both the players committed 4 double faults each during the match. Both of them also won 4 break points each during the match. Tsitsipas though won 5 games in a row in the match to 3 by Zverev. Both the players won 105 points each during the match.