MOSCOW, October 20, 2019
Andrey Rublev clinched the title of the VTB Kremlin Cup on his 22nd birthday. The Russian cruised past Adrian Mannarino of France 6-4, 6-0 in Sunday’s singles final.
Rublev saved the only break point he faced and converted four of his own five break point opportunities to prevail after only 62 minutes. The No. 6 seed hadn’t won a match in Moscow in six previous attempts, but became the ninth Russian to prevail at this event.
All heart ♥️@AndreyRublev97 wins a title at home in Russia for the very first time at the #KremlinCup pic.twitter.com/OvsLUFY4eS
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 20, 2019
“I’m at a loss. I can’t find the right words for what it means to me to win here,” Rublev said, quoted on the ATP Tour website. “I grew up with this tournament. I spent my whole childhood at the VTB Kremlin Cup. I will remember this tournament and this win for many years, and I’ll hopefully be playing this tournament for many years down the road.”
By lifting his second ATP Tour trophy following his triumph in Umag 2017, Rublev collected $144,830 in prize money as well as 250 ATP Ranking points.
Demoliner/Middelkoop clinch doubles title
On Saturday, Marcelo Demoliner of Brazil and Dutchman Matwe Middelkoop took the doubles title. The No. 4 seeds defeated Italian veteran Simone Bolelli and Andres Molteni of Argentina 6-1, 6-2. The final lasted 55 minutes.
“I think it confirms what we believed, it confirms in the title. We have a great team, we have a great fight together and we believe in something,” Middelkoop said. “You don’t always get lucky to win a title, which gives you confidence, and we got the title.”
Demoliner and Middelkoop add 250 ATP Doubles Ranking points to their tallies and split $47,520. “We had a good plan for this match and we executed very well,” Demoliner added.
