It was the closest of encounters but eventually it was Andrey “Rublo” Rublev who wrote his name into the record books as the first-ever two-time UTS champion.
He beat Alex “The Demon” de Minaur 14-16, 17-10, 16-13, 20-12 to lift the famous lightning-bolt trophy as the winner of UTS Oslo - the first event on the UTS Tour this year.
It was the first time that two former UTS champions had met beyond the Final Four - but the second time these two particular former champions had played each other this weekend. During the round-robin stage, Rublo had also come from a quarter behind to win 13-15, 18-10, 17-14, 17-12.
And De Minaur had even said before the event that Rublo, who lifted the trophy in Frankfurt last year, was the man to beat - so both knew they would be in for a tough battle.
After going two quarters to one up, Rublev admitted on the courtside microphone that he was having to work his hardest to get the better of the Australian.
And he kept that up into the fourth quarter, winning four points in a row at one stage. The Demon refused to be counted out, though, wheeling out another brilliant forehand cross-court to stay in touch. But Rublo’s smart use of the bonus card with 30 seconds left on the clock gave him a six-point lead.
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