The China Mail - Battling Rublev ends teen wildcard's run to reach Hong Kong final

Rublev kept his Australian Open preparations on track and ended the fairytale run of the 18-year-old Shang, who was in his first ATP Tour semi-final, with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 battling victory in 2hr 9min of pulsating tennis at Victoria Park.

In Sunday's final the Russian top seed will face Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori, who beat Austria's world number 43 Sebastian Ofner 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

The dynamic world number 183 Shang has been playing nerveless tennis to beat older and higher-ranked opponents all week.

After accounting for world number 16 Frances Tiafoe in a career-best straight-sets win in the quarter-final on Friday, Shang was brimming with confidence.

He flew out of the blocks to break the 26-year-old Rublev in the opening game.

Rublev became frustrated as he was unable to convert any of his three break points during the opening set, which Shang sealed emphatically with an ace after 43 minutes.

The combustible Russian, who drew blood when he smashed his racquet into his left knee in anger, faced two more break points in the opening game of both the second set and third sets.

But this time on each occasion he held firm and eventually wore down his plucky opponent as his own serve and winners began to find their range.

"He was playing unbelievable," said Rublev of Shang, who has thrilled capacity crowds in the southern Chinese city.

- 'I was powerless' -

"I was thinking in some moments that I have no chance because he was dominating and I was powerless, I didn't know what to do.

"Somehow I just keep fighting, keep trying, trying to say something positive, trying to say this cannot happen."

Rublev let out a massive roar as he finally broke Shang in the second game of the second, bellowing as much in relief as in celebration.

The third set could have gone either way until Rublev finally broke Shang to lead for the first time in the match at 5-3, and held his own serve to seal the outcome.

World number 69 Ruusuvuori also had to fight back from a set down during a 2hr 12min baseline war to reach his second ATP Tour final. His first came at Pune in 2022.

Ruusuvuori refused to lie down after dropping a tight first set in 41 minutes and forced Ofner, 27, to rely on his booming serve to get him out of trouble more than once as the match wore on.

But at 5-6 in the second set, his delivery finally cracked and the Finn took it to a decider.

In the sixth game of the third set, Ofner saved four more break points but a fifth proved a bridge too far as Ruusuvuori took a crucial 4-2 advantage and served out comfortably.

"It was a very tough match," said Ruusuvuori.

"Very good win and now I'm in the final, and that's why we play tennis so I will just go and enjoy that one.

"I just tried to stay as strong as possible physically and make it as tough as possible for him."

U.Feng--ThChM