London, 17 April 2023 (PA Media/dpa/MIA) - Andrey Rublev fought back from a set down for the second match in succession to win his first Masters 1000 title in Monte Carlo.

Rublev also recovered from a 4-1 deficit in the decider to beat teenager Holger Rune 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 in a hard-fought contest lasting two hours and 34 minutes.

The fifth seed hit 33 winners and sealed victory with his fifth ace of the match before dropping to the ground in celebration on Court Rainier III.

Rublev, who had dropped the opening set of his semi-final against Taylor Fritz, had lost his previous two Masters 1000 finals, falling to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo and Alexander Zverev in Cincinnati, both in 2021.

“I have tears,” Rublev told atptour.com. “I don’t know what to say. I am so happy.

“I have been struggling so much to win a Masters 1000 tournament. Trailing 1-4, 0/30, then saving break points, thinking there is no chance to win. But somehow I did it.

“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 en,d, 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.”

Photo: EPA