Andrey Rublev vanquished Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets to extend his winning run and book a spot in the BNP Paribas semi finals.
The number seven seed’s big-hitting game eventually overwhelmed the Bulgarian’s stylish finesse as he triumphed 7-5 6-2 to make it 13 victories on the spin.
Rublev will now meet Taylor Fritz in the last four as the nine-time tour title winner continues his push for a first Masters 1000 crown.
“I think the match was decided by who was going to be the first to start to dictate the points. Grigor likes to go for it on his forehand like me,” he said during an on-court interview with Amazon Prime. “I managed to do that well.”
Rublev has already won titles in Marseille and Dubai this year but believes he can still improve large parts of his game to help take him to the next level.
“Mentally I can be more calm and more positive,” he added.
“There are many things (I can do better) from my backhand, my defence and moving more to the net. Even with drop shots. I don’t use them much. I tried one today and it was easy for Grigor to smash it!”
The clash of styles made for some thrilling and tactically intriguing rallies in the early stages with both players being forced to save break points.
Rublev struck the first significant blow to lead 3-2 when the world number 35’s backhand malfunctioned in quick succession.
The 24-year-old Russian comfortably maintained his advantage until he served for the set in Game 10 when an inspired return game from Dimitrov saw him unload a sublime backhand winner on the run that paved the way for a stunning break to love.
Rublev dropped his racket in irritation but despite an internal emotional rollercoaster, he responded in the best way possible by converting on the second of two break points with a rasping return to wrestle back the initiative.
The dramatic finale to the opener continued as Rublev got tight despite having three set points on serve and he needed an avoidable forehand error from Dimitrov and a timely ace to get him over the line at the fourth attempt.
It was the first set Dimitrov had dropped in the desert this year and the 30-year-old Bulgarian’s hopes of a positive response were undone early in Set 2 when the depth of Rublev’s penetrative returns once again cracked his serve. As a result, Dimitrov’s game quickly began to unravel and a double fault gifted his opponent another break for a 4-1 lead.
The Russian world number seven eased through the formalities to claim victory on his second match point from there and on this evidence he is a very real contender to claim a third title of the year in California this weekend.
