VIENNA: Andrey Rublev won his fifth ATP title of the season Sunday, beating unheralded Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-4 at the Erste Bank Open.
The eighth-ranked Russian has won three of his last four tournaments, improving to 7-2 in career finals, and Sunday’s win earned him a berth for the season-ending ATP Finals in London.
Rublev became the first player in this shortened season with five titles, one more than Novak Djokovic. No other player has won more than two tournaments.
Sonego appeared in his second career final, after winning in Antalya in 2019.
The 42nd-ranked Italian had lost in qualification a week ago but was added to the main draw to replace the injured Diego Schwartzman.
Sonego didn’t drop a set in his way to the final, which included a 6-2, 6-1 quarterfinal win over Djokovic.
In the final, Rublev dominated play with his powerful ground strokes and dropped just one point in his first four service games.
By winning the final, Rublev improved to 39-7 for the season, matching Djokovic’s number of wins. No other player won more than 28.
Astana Open
Meanwhile, Australian John Millman claimed his debut ATP title with a 7-5, 6-1 win over France’s Adrian Mannarino at the Astana Open on Sunday.
The 31-year-old’s career milestone came at his third appearance in an ATP final after Tokyo in 2019 and Budapest the season before.
This was the world number 45’s third win over Mannarino in as many meetings and he achieved it by saving all six break points and breaking serve three times.
For the Frenchman this loss in Nur-Sultan was his ninth in 10 ATP finals, his lone success coming on the grass of s’Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands last year.
The pair could conceivably meet for a fourth time next week at the Paris Masters.
