Aleksandar Kovacevic achieved a notable victory over Andrey Rublev at the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo in Los Cabos, advancing to the championship match. The American player secured a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win against the top-seeded Rublev after two hours and 29 minutes on the Mexican hard-court ATP 250. This victory marks Kovacevic’s second win against Rublev this year, following their previous encounter in Montpellier.
“I can’t lie but say that once you get a win over a player one time, you believe you can do it again,” Kovacevic stated. He acknowledged not feeling great initially but found his energy in the latter sets. “Every match is a new challenge,” he added.
Kovacevic will face Denis Shapovalov in Sunday’s final. It will be the first tour-level championship between players with one-handed backhands since Stefanos Tsitsipas and Dominic Thiem met at the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals.
Kovacevic has risen to No. 66 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and could reach No. 56 if he wins his first ATP Tour trophy. Meanwhile, Rublev was seeking his 250th tour-level win on hard courts but was unable to overcome Kovacevic’s late-game surge.
Denis Shapovalov reached the final without dropping a set, defeating Adam Walton with a score of 6-2, 6-2. “It’s what I was born with and it’s the way I grew up playing,” Shapovalov said about his aggressive style.
Shapovalov joined Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and Jack Draper as players who have reached multiple hard-court finals this year. After recovering from a knee injury last season, Shapovalov returned strong and aims for his fourth ATP Tour trophy this week.