The best Andrey Rublev appeared at the best of times to give Russia the first point of the Davis Cup semifinal against Germany. The number five in the world, in a Madrid Arena with little atmosphere, made his best game of the finals to defeat Dominik Koepfer 6-4 6-0 in 49 minutes. If Daniil Medvedev then beats Jan-Lennard Struff, the Russian Federation will play tomorrow (16:00, Come on) the final against Croatia.
The Stakhanovist Rublev (24 years and 5th in the world), in high demand all week, found peace against Koepfer (27th and 54th). The Muscovite based in Barcelona with Fernando Vicente was playing his fourth individual match (he only lost to Feliciano López) and had also taken part in two doubles. He is the cement of the team of the inscrutable Shamil Tarpischev (73 years old), the eternal captain who served the 100th tie in front of the Davis Cup team. In 2019, when they lost in the semifinals, he already made him play eight games in a team in which Medvedev was not.
Left-hander Koepfer didn’t see them coming to Rublev. A break for 2-1 served to get the sleeve back on track. In the second, the Russian overwhelmed the German with three more breaks. The wind supplants in favor of Russia.