“I prefer to play someone else”: Andrey Rublev reacts to daunting Jannik Sinner showdown in Rome

Andrey Rublev is already anticipating his Rome Open quarterfinal clash against Jannik Sinner, in what will see him tasked with trying to spoil the party for the World No. 1 — who arrives riding an incredible historic streak of 31 consecutive victories at Masters 1000 level — equalling Novak Djokovic at the top of the all-time record.

The level Sinner is bringing is undoubtedly intimidating for any rival on the Tour, including even a Rublev who has the experience of defeating Sinner in 3 of the 10 meetings they have played against each other. “The good thing is, how many Masters in a row has he won already? Five? How many matches in a row? Twenty-something? So it's getting closer,” he said while laughing on Tennis Channel regarding his upcoming opponent.

The Russian — former World No. 5 — already owns 16 Masters 1000 quarterfinal appearances and will look to keep advancing in Rome. He arrives after victories over Miomir Kecmanovic, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Nikoloz Basilashvili. Against Sinner, Rublev will seek to return to the semifinals of a Masters 1000 for the 10th time in his career — and for the first time since the final of the Canadian Open.

“I'm not excited. I'm not bad. I'm fine,” commented the 27-year-old Russian. “Of course, if you ask me, I prefer to play someone else. Of course, I prefer to play someone else. But if I would like to challenge myself against Jannick, yes, I would like to challenge myself against Yannick as well. So that's why I'm fine.”

Andrey Rublev has had to find improvements in his game in order to once again place himself in the latter stages of tournaments at this category. After several years established inside the top-10 — and even spending long stretches inside the top-5 — the Russian has lost positions over the last couple of seasons and has had to fight from further down the rankings.

One of his strongest points during the fourth-round clash against Nikoloz Basilashvili was his serve, where he totalled 13 aces and won 77% of points behind his first serve. “Some players, it's tough to serve aces against them, but they are not making anything dangerous from the return,” Rublev explained. “And Niko (Basilashvili) is this kind of player. He's guessing, so he goes right or left, but if he guesses right, he hits full power.

“So okay, at one moment you serve a lot of aces, but then another moment, if he guesses right, maybe it's going to be three winners. That's why there is no point comparing, because each player is different and they return in a completely different way.”

However, during this clay swing he has looked better, after reaching the final of the Barcelona Open — losing to Arthur Fils — and now advancing into the quarterfinals in Rome. He holds an 8-3 clay-court record this season, although he admits there were no major objectives for this part of the year.

“There were no goals. I don't know. There were no goals,” Rublev stated after being asked on Tennis Channel about his goals for the clay season. “Marat left to Morocco for two weeks. I don't know, just to play tennis and that's it.”