Rublev won the Masters 1000 for the first time

Rublev has been a two-time Masters 1000 finalist before, but both lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo 2021 and Alexander Zverev in Cincinnati the same year. In his third appearance in a tournament final at this level, Rublev was pushed against the wall as he was led 1-4, 30-40 in the deciding set. But the effort to the end helped him win against Holger Rune, who made 49 mistakes and ruined the whole match.

"I cried," Rublev said after the two-hour and 34-minute match. "I'm so happy, I don't know what to say. It's hard to win a Masters 1000. When I'm near defeat, I remember the finals I've lost. Then I thought I had run out of chances and down. Today, I just think that I have to trust myself to the end."

Rublev and Rune have both won 17 games this season before reaching the final in Monte Carlo. Runes got off to a better start, winning the catch game first, and continued to advance at the end of the set to win 7-5. Rublev then dominated the second set, taking the lead early and winning 6-2.

In the decisive set, Rune led 4-1 and had a chance to make it 5-1, but missed the break-point. Since then, Rublev has made fewer mistakes, winning the decisive ball game to win the championship.

The win frees Rublev from being called "Mr. 500", meaning that he is only qualified to win the ATP 500 tournaments. Rublev will move up to fifth on the ATP scoreboard next week, and Rune to seventh. Next week, Rune will compete at the ATP 250 tournament in Munich, where he is the defending champion. Rublev will travel to Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina for the ATP 250 Srpska Open, which will feature world number one Novak Djokovic.