Andrey Rublev can be a divisive figure on the court, as he is quick to show negative reactions and get overly angry at himself. That he appears to be such a well-liked and good person away from the court still makes people pull for him despite his on-court antics. This is brought up because Rublev deserves credit even during a tough match against Arthur Fils.
Fils and Rublev faced off in the final of the Barcelona Open, an event many would have expected Carlos Alcaraz to win, but Alcaraz injured his wrist early in the event and was forced to withdraw. The Spaniard will also miss the Madrid Masters with the same problem.
Not that the Russian and the Frenchman were thinking about the ATP No. 2 in their match on Sunday. One in which Rublev jumped out to a 2-0 first-set lead until things completely fell apart. The Russian, however, didn't. Instead, he might have simply felt defeated after Fils kept mashing forehands past him.
Arthur Fils overcomes Andrey Rublev to win the 2026 Barcelona Open
Rublev wasn't playing exceedingly poorly, but Fils was just pushing him around the court with his bombastic forehand. At times, the Frenchman couldn't miss.
After Fils broke Rublev in a tense fourth game, the Russian won just one point over the next three games. That included being broken at love. By the time the ATP No. 15 could somewhat regroup, he was down 2-5 and facing yet another break point. Fils converted and took the first set 6-2.
Fils pressed Rublev again in the second set, but the Russian was able to hold to get to 2-all in a nearly 14-minute game. One might have wondered if the hold would change the narrative of the match for the Russian.
It wouldn't immediately. Fils got a break two games later, and had the match and tournament on his racket at 5-3, and made three straight unforced errors to drop to 0-40. Rublev got the break to get to 4-5 and on serve.
In the next game, Fils got three break points, but Rublev reeled off five straight points to come from 0-40 down to even the set. The Russian then broke in the next game, but he couldn't consolidate the break, and the set ended up in a tie-break.
Just as many things with the match, what appeared to be going one way, suddenly changed. The same happened in the tie-break, as Rublev got a minibreak and led 2-0, but then Fils won seven straight points to win the tie-break 7-2, the match, and the tournament.
The win was Arthur Fils' fourth-career title, but his first since 2024. He will move up to No. 25 once the new rankings are released. The 21-year-old is beginning to tick up in form recently, too (he had made at least the quarterfinals in his three previous tournaments), and could be a real threat at the French Open in May.
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