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Andrey Rublev all class after surprise defeat to Dusan Lajovic in Banja Luka final

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Andrey Rublev was all class after suffering a surprise defeat to Dusan Lajovic in the Banja Luka final as he honestly congratulated the Serb on his big day.

Rublev, seeded at No 2, was the favorite to beat Lajovic in the Banja Luka but the Serb pulled off a surprise 6-3 4-6 6-4 win.

Rublev, who was the defending champion at the tournament, said Lajovic deserved to win his first title since 2019.

ā€œCongrats to Dusan. Youā€™re a good friend and one of the nicest people Iā€™ve met outside of tennis. I know how much you struggled. Weā€™ve been talking a lot about those things. Iā€™m happy you did amazing in front of home crowd and your family. You deserve it,” Rublev told Lajovic, via The Tennis Letter.

Lajovic also had a classy message for Rublev

Lajovic was also all class when addressing Rublev as he even apologized to the Russian for beating him in the Banja Luka final.

ā€œI would like to congratulate Andrey on another great week, the last two weeks were amazing for you. Congrats Andrey. Iā€™m sorry for today. Thank you for playing such a good match with me today and I hope to see you in some other final again,” Lajovic said.

Lajovic, 32, now has two ATP titles in his collection.

Lajovic’s first ATP title came in 2019 Umag, when he defeated Attila Balasz in the final.

After winning Banja Luka, Lajovic admitted that he didn’t really expect to win it all.

“Last time I was in an ATP final was four years ago. Iā€™ve been through a lot since then, many ups and downs. This was probably the most unexpected thing for me. But I still believed in myself even though I didnā€™t have the best last year,” Lajovic said.

Lajovic entered the week in Banja Luka ranked at No 70.

Following his win, Lajovic improved to No 40.