Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2021: Andrey Rublev vs Andy Murray preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match Details

Fixture: (1) Andrey Rublev vs (6) Andy Murray

Date: 18 December 2021

Tournament: Mubadala World Tennis Championship

Round: Final

Venue: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Category: Exhibition Tournament

Surface: Outdoor Hardcourt

Prize money: $250,000

Match timing: Not before 7 pm local time, 3 pm GMT, 8:30 pm IST

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Eurosport

Andrey Rublev vs Andy Murray preview

Andrey Rublev at the 2021 Barcelona Open.

Top seed Andrey Rublev will take on three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray in the final of the 2021 Mubadala World Tennis Championship on Saturday.

Rublev battled for over two hours against Denis Shapovalov, eventually prevailing in three tough sets. The first set was pretty even as both players held serve until the tie-break.

Rublev held four break points for an early lead in the fourth game, but failed to capitalize on those opportunities. He didn't make the same mistake in the tie-break though and managed to claim the opener.

Shapovalov upped his level in the second set and levelled proceedings. He had a chance to go up an early break in the deciding set as well, but squandered it.

The duo held serve until the final game of the match, when Rublev managed to break to seal the win.

Andy Murray, meanwhile, put a dampener on Rafael Nadal's much-awaited comeback as he defeated the Spaniard 6-3, 7-5.

The long-time rivals played their first match in more than five years and put up quite a show for the crowd. Nadal was a little rusty, but that shouldn't take away from Murray's performance as the Brit competed quite well.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist was by far the better player in the first set, as Nadal took time to get going. After going up a break in the middle of the first, Murray managed to hold on to that lead.

The duo held serve until 5-5 in the second set, before Murray managed to get a break and then serve out the match. The Brit looks to be slowly gaining the form that made him one of the best players of his generation and he will be keen to carry the momentum into the final against Rublev.

Andrey Rublev vs Andy Murray head-to-head

Andrey Rublev and Andy Murray have played each other twice prior, splitting their meetings. As such, their head-to-head is tied at 1-1. The Russian won their previous encounter at the Rotterdam Open in straight sets.

Andrey Rublev vs Andy Murray prediction

After hitting a slump towards the end of the season, Rublev's been playing a lot better since the Davis Cup. Even when he hit a rough patch in his match against Shapovalov, he wasn't too hard on himself and got out of trouble by playing some smart tennis.

However, the Russian struggled on his serve quite a bit and will need to fix that aspect of his game against Murray, who is one of the best returners in the sport.

Murray has made considerable progress this year and has looked competitive for the most part. He has the tools to handle Rublev's firepower, especially his explosive forehand. But despite Murray's considerable improvements, the Russian remains the favorite to come through this contest.

Also Check Out: Updated Tennis Schedule 2022

About the author

Rohit is a journalist at Sportskeeda who specializes in covering tennis. Having been with the company for three years, he has proven himself as a formidable force in the field. With a Master's degree in law, Rohit brings his analytical and research skills to the forefront as a journalist. He stays on top of the game by using social media platforms and never misses a match for on-court insights. He values giving credit where it's due, keeping his reporting fair and accurate.

At the outset of his career, Rohit found his niche in writing previews and SEO pieces and it's this expertise that continues to define his role at Sportskeeda. He is particularly proud of one article that garnered an impressive 750k views and surpassed his "wildest dreams." Rohit is not particularly fond of (GOAT) debates and it is one of the reasons why he left the legal world behind. He prefers to view players in "tiers," where they're all esteemed to an extent. However, if pressed to name favorites, he would choose Serena and Venus Williams. The Williams sisters' journey from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of tennis has been his greatest source of inspiration.

When he isn't busy making spot-on predictions about match outcomes, Rohit likes reading, particularly fantasy, sci-fi, and comics. As an X-Men fanatic, he's also passionate about board games and enjoys watching movies in his spare time. And don't be surprised if you catch him silently wishing to the tennis gods for the removal of ad scoring from doubles.

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Edited by Arvind Sriram