"So of course I'm happy": Andrey Rublev hails 'special' win over Jannik Sinner at Canadian Open

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.