Andrey Rublev claimed his first Masters 1000 title by beating teenager Holger Rune 5-7 6-2 7-5 in the Monte Carlo Masters final.
Rublev was 4-1 down to his 19-year-old opponent from Denmark in the deciding set and saved two break points before levelling the match.
A double fault from Rune then gave Rublev a 6-5 lead before the 25-year-old served out for his 13th ATP title.
“I don’t know what to say,” said Russian world number six Rublev.
“Trailing 1-4, 0/30, then saving break points, thinking there is no chance to win. But somehow I did it.”
Rublev, who had lost two previous Masters 1000 finals following defeats in Monte Carlo and Cincinnati in 2021, hit 33 winners against world number nine Rune.
“I was hoping deep inside that I would have one chance,” added Rublev.
“Play until the end. I remember the previous finals and when I was losing I thought I’d have no chance and mentally I was going down.
“But today I thought, ‘just believe until the end’, and this is what I was trying to do in the third set, hoping I would have an extra chance to come back and what a way to do it.”
