This matchup was supposed to bring fire, but it didn't quite live up to that as Sebastian Korda struggled to really get going properly against Andrey Rublev.
Korda was spectacularly on fire at the 2024 Dubai Championships before this match, barely having any trouble in his first two matches. The same could be said for Rublev, who has been rather solid since the start of the year, so this match should have been a proper showdown.
Fans in Dubai didn't quite get it because the American, who lost only three games at the ATP 500 tournament before this match, didn't play remotely as well as he did so far this week.
Much of that had to do with Rublev once again being quite solid. He wins these matchups routinely but struggles against the elite players.
Rublev broke relatively early, which cut short Korda's momentum. He did find some rhythm a bit later but, for the most part, couldn't really touch Rublev. The second set looked even worse for the American as he seemingly injured himself during play.
He started to move more slowly and kind of grimaced in pain often. At 3-2, he called for a medical timeout and described what seemed like an abdominal issue.
After Rublev broke for the 4-3 lead, Korda consulted the doctor once again and ultimately opted to retire because he was seemingly feeling pain.
There seemingly wasn't really any reason to keep playing, especially if he really felt as much pain as it looked like he was feeling. It was an unfortunate end for Korda, who looked amazing before this match, especially since he's already missed a lot of time with various injuries.
On the other hand, it was a good win for Rublev, who once again proved to be in pretty solid shape and certainly a candidate to go all the way to the final and possibly win the event. The final score was 6-4, 4-3 RET.
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