Andrey Rublev could do something this week that players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer never did before.
The Russian is yet to fully unleash his potential and reach the 'top top' of tennis but he's close. Rublev has won trophies in the past, quite a few actually, especially ATP 500 ones but never a Grand Slam one. It's something that he aspires to do with many expecting him to get it done in the future.
He's become somewhat known for doing really well at the 500s playing in 8 finals so far. He won five of those which means that nearly 40 % of his trophies are ATP 500 ones (5 of 13). 2020 was particularly impressive as he strung together a run that saw him win three that year; he added another one early next year.
He was basically unbeatable when he had a deep run at one of those events and that put him in a great position to do something that has never done before. Even legendary players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer never did it and Rublev has a chance of becoming the first to ever do it.
The Russian is currently competing at the 2023 Halle Open where he'll contest the semi-final on Saturday. Should he win, he'll be in the final and only one win away from winning an ATP 500 trophy on grass. It's the only one he's missing as he won ATP 500 trophies on clay and hard courts before. If he completes that he'll become the first player ever to do that.
No player in tennis history has an ATP 500 trophy on all three major surfaces and Rublev is now two matches away. He was only one match away two years ago in 2021 playing in the Halle Open final. Unfortunately for the Russian, he lost to Ugo Humbert in that final. This year presents him with a new chance though he lost two of three finals he played this year.
As for the Big Three, they all came relatively close, but not enough. Djokovic never managed to win an ATP 500 trophy on clay and grass. On the other hand, Federer never won a clay-court ATP 500 tournament, while Nadal misses the grass court one.
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