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Andrey Rublev beat his compatriot and good friend Karen Khachanov on Thursday to reach the 2023 Monte-Carlo quarterfinals despite not being in a great mental space.
Battling windy conditions in the Princinpality, the sixth seed battled the elements and his opponent, especially in a competitive first set, which went the distance. Rublev, though, raised his level to take the opener before conceding only two games in the second to book his place in the last eight.
It wasn't a particularly clean performance from Rublev, but the Russian did hit 20 winners as he brought up his 50th claycourt win. In his on-court interview after the 7-6(4), 6-2 victory, Rublev admitted that the first set was a struggle for both him and Khachanov because of familiarity with the opponent and the slippery court conditions as well.
"That we know each other too well. I mean, I think the first set was only mental. We didn't really show some tennis skills. I don't know. That was my thing. But also it was tough to show some skills because the win was really hard and the court is slippery and it was really, really tough to do something."
Rublev continued:
"The first one was super mental, at least for me. And then the feeling was that after I won the first set, I was a bit lucky that I was able to win. So it give me a bit advantage. And then as soon as I was able to win a set, the second set, I started to feel more free, and I felt that Karen started to feel more, a bit more down and that was the difference."
Regarding the 'distractions' at play, Rublev said:
"I wanted to destroy everything around me. And then, in the end after the set when I was my sort of, I, I shoot a few times the racquet. But at that time, I felt like maybe I needed, I needed something to wake up and that was, and then I started to play a bit better. "
Rublev next takes on Jan-Lennard Struff on Friday for a place in the Monte-Carlo last four.
"You don't know what to expect" - Andrey Rublev on facing Jan-Lennard Struff
Jan-Lennard Struff beat Casper Ruud in straight sets to book his place in the last eight of the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters.
Andrey Rublev is 2-2 against the German, with one of the wins (2021 Rome) coming on clay. The Russian hailed Struff as a powerful hitter ahead of their clash, adding that his unpredictability makes him a tough opponent to face.
"That guy shoot full power every ball, and he is like, 'Ok, I will try to do something', but it's like you, you don't know what to expect because he can shoot full power and he can put everything like this from the line. Then next match, maybe he will miss a few of them and it's like you don't know what's going to happen," Andrey Rublev said.
