ATP Tour

Kovacevic tops Rublev, sets rare one-hander final with Shapovalov in Los Cabos

Aleksandar Kovacevic summoned a striking sense of deja-vu against Andrey Rublev on Friday evening at the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo in Los Cabos, where he surged into the championship match.

The 26-year-old American rallied to a gritty 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over the top-seeded Rublev after two hours, 29 minutes at the Mexican hard-court ATP 250. Having also defeated Rublev to reach his maiden ATP Tour final in Montpellier in February, Kovacevic now boasts a 2-0 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“I can’t lie but say that once you get a win over a player one time, you believe you can do it again,” said Kovacevic. “I was not feeling so great to start, but then I really found my energy in the second and third sets. I had a bit of luck going my way, but I’m proud of the way I competed.

“Every match is a new challenge. I thought about how I was going to play against him, but you can’t think too much of the past, whether it’s good or bad.”

Kovacevic will take on Denis Shapovalov in Sunday's final. It will be the first tour-level championship match between two players with a one-handed backhand since Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Dominic Thiem at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals.

By becoming the fourth American finalist in Los Cabos, Kovacevic is up 10 spots to No. 66 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, guaranteeing a new career high on Monday. He could rise another 10 places to No. 56 if he captures his first ATP Tour trophy.

Rublev, the World No. 10, was aiming to record his 250th tour-level win on hard courts. He saved four break points for a gutsy service hold to move to 4-3 in the final set, but Kovacevic found a late spark and reeled off the final three games to prevail.

Watch Extended Highlights of Los Cabos semi-finals: 

Kovacevic faces a maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with third seed Shapovalov, who continued his impressive debut in Los Cabos by reaching the final without dropping a set. The 26-year-old Canadian was relentless throughout his 6-2, 6-2 win over Adam Walton, saving all four break points he faced and converting all four he carved out on the Australian’s serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“It’s what I was born with and it’s the way I grew up playing,” Shapovalov said when asked about his aggressive game style. “It’s important to stay aggressive and keep going for it. It’s been a great week for me, I didn’t know what to expect coming in. It’s always special to play a final at this level. It’s going to be fun.”

With his 66-minute victory, Shapovalov joined countryman Felix Auger-Aliassime (3), Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (2) and Jack Draper (2) as the only men to reach multiple hard-court finals this year. Shapovalov, who won the biggest title of his career at the ATP 500 in Dallas in February, is chasing his fourth ATP Tour trophy.

Shapovalov’s 2023 season was cut short in July due to a knee injury, but he returned to form at the back end of 2024 by winning his first title in five years in Belgrade as a qualifier. The former No. 10 player in the PIF ATP Rankings then surged through three Top 10 opponents during his Dallas triumph. By reaching his ninth tour-level final this week, Shapovalov is up four spots to No. 29 in the Live Rankings.