"I played well" - Rublev content with Indian Wells semifinal

The seventh seed made it 13 consecutive wins with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Grigor Dimitrov on Friday at the BNP Paribas Open.

One the heels of back-to-back ATP Tour titles in Marseille and Dubai, Rublev continued his stellar form to reach the Indian Wells semi-finals for the first time. He never trailed in a 7-5, 6-2 win over 33rd seed Grigor Dimitrov on Friday at the BNP Paribas Open, earning a dominant victory in a battle of former junior World No. 1s. Should Rublev go on to win the title in Indian Wells, he will tie his career-long winning streak of 15.

After the match, Rublev said:

"I played really well. Since the beginning, it was more about who would be the first one, who would start to lead the point, who would start to dictate to play more aggressive. Both of us would like to take our forehand and try to dictate, so it was just who's going to be the first one."

He further said:

"Return here is one of the most important things. If you can bring as many returns as possible [into the court], and then here with these conditions, in some moments it's tough to serve. But this is for everyone."