Russia’s
tennis star
Andrey Rublev believes that beating world number one
Jannik Sinner is ‘special’
after his recent triumph at the
Canadian Open. The 26-year-old came out on top
in the quarterfinal of the mega-event on Saturday with a score of 6-3, 1-6,
6-2. It was Rublev’s third win against the Italian star and first in
five outings after four consecutive defeats.
Talking
after the match, the Russian tennis star stated that winning against the world
number one was a ‘special’ feeling. "It was a really great match of mine,”
he said. “I was playing really well today and I'm happy that I was able to win.
I don't know, not much to say, because I still for the moment... really I don't
understand what's happening, because Jannik is an amazing player and he's
playing unbelievable for the past two years.
“I was just
hoping that I would be able to fight with him, to show great tennis. In the
end, I think we had a lot of great rallies, a lot of long rallies. To be able
to win this kind of match, of course it's always special, and of course I
needed those matches, especially after some bad moments this year. So of course
I'm happy." Rublev’s next-round opponent will be another Italian, Matteo Arnaldi, who booked his place in the next round after beating Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinal with a score of 6-4, 7-5.
It will be the third meeting between the two in professional
tennis. In the previous two meeting, both players came out on top on one
occasion each. Their most recent meeting came in the third round of the French
Open in 2023 where Arnaldi came out on top with a score of 7-6, 6-2, 6-4. The
other two quarterfinals will be played today. Germany’s Alexander Zverev will
face America’s Sebastian Korda whereas Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz will face Australia’s
Alexei Popyrin.