Lajovic reigns supreme over Rublev to win his second career title at 32 years

Dusan Lajovic defeated Andrey Rublev 6-3 4-6 6-4 in Banja Luka, to capture his second ATP career title at 32 years old.

A magical tournament for the Serbian, with two top-ten wins this week, including beating the top three ranked Serbian men (Novak Djokovic, Kecmanovic, Krajinovic), and now the Monte Carlo Champion.

After his momentous victory, Lajovic explained his challenges since being in an ATP final four years ago.

“Last time I was in an ATP final was four years ago. I’ve been through a lot since then, many ups and downs. This was probably the most unexpected thing for me. But I still believed in myself even though I didn’t have the best last year,” said Lajovic.

He also congratulated Rublev for playing a good match and hopes to play him in the final.

“I would like to congratulate Andrey on another great week, the last two weeks were amazing for you. Congrats Andrey. I’m sorry for today. Thank you for playing such a good match with me today and I hope to see you in some other final again.”

Holger Rune came back from losing the second set to beat Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(3) and defend his Munich title.

It is his fourth career title and first of the year, and also his first career title defense, which was in dramatic fashion.

A painful loss for Van de Zandschulp who had four match points in the deciding set and served three times, but wasted the opportunities to capture his first ATP career title.