A new Monte Carlo champion will be crowned on Sunday.
For Andrey Rublev, this is a third a career Masters 1000 final. He was the runner-up both here as well as in Cincinnati back in 2021. Will the third time be the charm for Andrey on Sunday?
For Holger Rune, this is a second championship match at a Masters. This past November in Bercy, he outlasted Novak Djokovic in a stellar final, by a score of 7-5 in the third. The 19-year-old now vies for a second Masters title within the last six months, and will reach a new career-high ranking on Monday: No.7 with a loss on Sunday, No.6 with a win.
Sunday’s play gets underway at 12:00pm local time with the doubles final, featuring Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek (5) vs. Romain Arneodo and Sam Weissborn (WC). Dodig and Krajicek were champions earlier this season in Rotterdam, while Arneodo and Weissborn have spent most of the year on the Challenger circuit.
Holger Rune (6) vs. Andrey Rublev (5) – Not Before 2:30pm on Court Rainier III
Rublev is 17-8 on the year, and was also a finalist in Dubai, where he lost 6-2, 6-2 to his friend Daniil Medvedev. He is 12-6 in his career in finals, but notably only 6-6 in outdoor finals. In his two previous Masters 1000 finals, he’s failed to win a set. Andrey came back from a set down to defeat Taylor Fritz on Saturday.
Rune is 17-7 on the year, and was 0-2 in semifinals this season before Saturday, when he also came from behind, beating Jannik Sinner 7-5 in the third in a match that went late into the evening. He’s is 3-2 in ATP finals, with this being only his second one outdoors. Holger won that outdoor final, last April on clay in Munich, when Botic van de Zandschulp retired after just seven games.
This is a rematch from an epic encounter three months ago at the Australian Open. In the round of 16, Rublev prevailed 11-9 in the final-set tiebreak after saving two match points, and thanks to a net cord winner on his own match point. Their only other previous meeting occurred during Rune’s title run in Bercy, when he was victorious in straight sets.
In the rubber match, I favor Holger to win his second Masters 1000 title. His previous performance in a final at this level, defeating Djokovic in Paris, will provide him with a lot of confidence on this day, and proved that he’s a big match player. The crowd will likely be pulling for Andrey on Sunday, as Holger helped provoke the audience’s booing in his direction on Saturday, with many Italian in the stands pulling for their man, Sinner. But Rune seemed unbothered by that, if not motivated by it.
