Rublev and Shapovalov cruise past Norrie and Wawrinka, reach St. Petersburg Open semifinal

Andrey Rublev and Denis Shapovalov wasted no time in their matches on Friday winning quickly and booking spots in the semifinal in St. Petersburg.

Andrey Rublev was the first man who stepped onto the courts on Friday and he was absolutely spectacular. Cameron Norrie is a solid player but when presented with a top 10 player there is not much he can do. The 64-minute match was completely dominated by Rublev who won 6-2 6-1. The Russian was dominant from the opening serving hitting his serves at a good percentage and playing very aggressive. The Brit had no answer to this dominating play so he lost the opening set 6-2.

The same thing happened in the 2nd set as Rublev continued bombarding him with strong forehands that often caused mistakes by Norrie. The 2nd set was even shorter and more dominating 6-1. Rublev moves on to the semifinal as looks every bit of a player capable of winning this tournament.

The next match of the day was a proper delight for the fans as Denis Shapovalov took on Wawrinka. Shapovalov has looked impressive at this event and that continued today as well. Initially, it was Wawrinka who caused Denis problems but Shapovalov saved all break points he faced. Midway through the set, he broke Wawrinka to take the lead after which the match shifted. It was all routine for Denis from there who won the opening set 6-4.

The 2nd set featured similar play by both players as Shapovalov struck first taking a 2-1 lead. Wawrinka fought back immediately to make it 2-2 after which we saw both players hold their serve. Shapovalov had some break chances but Stan saved them. The crucial moment came at 5-5 when Denis played some solid points and broke Stan to take a 6-5 lead. Wawrinka came back strong in the next game having two consecutive break points but failed to use either.

Boosted by that Shapovalov played two stellar points to close out the match with a 7-5 2nd set victory. He moves on to the semifinal and looks very dangerous on this surface.