Andrey Rublev captured his 15th tour-level title and 10th on hard courts on Sunday at the Bank of China Hong Kong Tennis Open, where he defeated Finn Emil Ruusuvuori, who was chasing his maiden tour-level crown.
In a heavy-hitting final, Rublev earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory at the ATP 250 event to start his season in style. With his 78-minute victory, the 26-year-old improved to 3-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, gaining revenge for his defeat to Ruusuvuori in Cincinnati in August.
"It is a great feeling," Rublev said. "I enjoyed my week a lot here. It is a great feeling to start the season with the title. I liked the city, the tournament and I played good tennis."
Rublev has won his past nine matches against players outside the Top 50 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, with his last defeat coming against Ruusuvuori.
Top seed Rublev was made to work hard for the title in Hong Kong, where the ATP Tour returned for the first time since 2002 this week. He moved past #NextGenATP stars Shang Juncheng and Arthur Fils in deciding sets, but had too much for Ruusuvuori. He struck 13 winners, committed just six unforced errors and saved the one break point he faced.
"I played a good level of tennis the whole tournament," Rublev added. "I think I played a high level in the final. It will give me more confidence for Australian Open."
Ruusuvuori was competing in his second tour-level final, having fallen to Joao Sousa in Pune in 2022. The 24-year-old is up 19 spots to No. 50 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his run in Hong Kong.
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