World No. 8 Andrey Rublev delivered a dominant performance in the Belgrade semifinal as Fabio Fognini stood no chance.
Rublev, seeded at No. 2, destroyed Fognini 6-2 6-2 to set up a Belgrade final against Novak Djokovic.
Rublev missed out on three consecutive break points in the first game but earned his first break in the third game.
It didn’t take long for Rublev to claim his second break as well as he broke Fognini again in the fifth game, before serving out for the set in the eighth game.
Fognini bounced back a bit at the start of the second set as he led 2-1 after the opening three games.
Rublev then absolutely dominated the rest of the match as he claimed back-to-back breaks to win five games in a row and complete a straight-set win.
“Today I played even better [than against Daniel],’ said Rublev in his on-court interview, per the ATP website. “I think [it was] my best match of the tournament so far. It’s good that every match I’m playing better and better.”
Rublev on playing Djokovic
Rublev won’t have an easy job in the final as he plays next world No. 1 Djokovic.
Djokovic claimed a straight-set win over Rublev in their lone meeting, which came at the ATP Finals last year.
“It’s going to be fun,” Rublev said of facing Djokovic. “Tomorrow, I have nothing to lose, I can go and enjoy it.
“He will play at home, it will be his moment, so the best I can do is fight and try to do my best.”
Meanwhile, Fognini showed his class and congratulated Rublev on Twitter after their match.
“Such a good performance by Andrey today! Congrats! But still happy about this positive week. Thank you Belgrade for the warm welcome. I really appreciated it. Vidimo se (which means ‘see you’ on Serbian),” Fognini tweeted.