Rublev Sets Kovacevic In Los Cabos Semi-Final
- Tournament top seed rallies from a set down to advance to top four round
- Kovacevic leaves Argentina’s Ficovich in the dust
Los Cabos, July 17, 2025 – The top seed of the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo, Andrey Rublev, fulfilled the prediction and advanced to the semifinals of the ATP 250 by beating a surprising Emilio Nava, from the United States.
Nava (No. 123) demanded the best from Rublev, ranked 10th in the world, by taking the match to three sets after beating him 7-5 in the first, but Andrey reacted by winning 6-4, 6-3.
It was a match that started off uphill for Nava, who was down 4-1 but reacted to equalize 4-4. Both continued to defend their serve for 5-5 and Nava broke and held his serve for 7-5.
Forced to react, Rublev started the second set a bit nervous and lost the third game. Nava got to 3-1, but hesitated at the key moment at 4-3 and 40-30, from which Rublev escaped, broke for 4-4, defended his serve and broke again for 6-4.
In the third with better physical background, Rublev took a 4-1 lead after a break in the second game and then both defended his serve until 6-3 in two hours and 20 minutes.
“I’m super happy because at one point I was thinking it was over because Emilio was doing everything better than me, then somehow I tried to get those thoughts out to be more positive, I tried to do something different, at least try, I was focused, fighting and I had a chance and I was able to use it,” Rublev said after the match.
In the semifinal, Rublev will face American Aleksandar Kovecvic, who beat Argentinean Juan Pablo Ficovich 6-3, 6-1.
It was a well worked victory for Kovacevic, who closed the victory in 80 minutes of the match against a Ficovich who felt the difference in ranking and experience. The Argentinean is 148 in the world and Kovacevic is 76 and that made the difference.