Defending champion, Andrey Rublev, started his ATP 500 Rotterdam Campaign with a first-round win against Swiss Henri Laaksonen. The Russian took just 1 hour 12 minutes to beat Henri 6-4, 6-4. 

The match saw some great hitting by both the players. However, Rublev received the maximum cheer with his trick volley. Serving 2-3, and 40-15, Rublev approached the net on a backhand slice drop by Laasonen. Returning the drop, Rublev stood on the net, ready for a volley. 

Seeing the Russian on the net, Henri hit a backhand towards Rublev’s backhand side. However, the 2021 champion received the shot with utmost perfection, hitting a drop volley, which returned to his side after the bounce.

WHAT. A. SHOT! 

Impressed by the shot, Tennis TV shared the video of the rally on their Instagram story. They captioned the story, “Andrey. Last year’s champion Andrey Rublev pulling out the tricks!” Acknowledging the appreciation, Rublev reshared the story on his Instagram profile as well. 

As the Russian received immense appreciation for his volley, it was just a part of his highly balanced game. He won 85% of the net points, coupled with 19 winners and 7 aces, to win the match. 

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Andrey Rublev at the Rotterdam Open

Andrey Rublev first appeared in the Rotterdam Open in 2017. However, he failed to make it to the main draw, losing to Netherland’s Botic Van de Zandschulp in three sets. However, the following year saw a different result. In 2018, Rublev reached the quarter-finals of the Rotterdam Open but lost to Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets.

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In 2019, Rublev failed to repeat his previous year’s performance, again crashing out in the qualifying rounds. The year 2020 once again saw him repeating history. The current World No. 7 again reached the quarterfinals at the Rotterdam Alroy stadium. In the quarter-finals, he was beaten by Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic in straight sets. 

However, after having several unsuccessful title chases in the previous years, in 2021, Rublev entered the tournament as the 4th seed. Beating players like Andy Murray and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the previous rounds, Andrey reached the finals of the 2021 ATP 500 Rotterdam Open.

Highly motivated by his run in the tournament, Rublev went on to beat Hungarian qualifier, Marton Fucsovics, in straight sets. Making history, he became the first Russian since Mikhail Youzhny in 2007 to lift the trophy here.