San Diego Open 2021: Andrey Rublev vs Diego Schwartzman preview, head-to-head & prediction

Match details

Fixture: (1) Andrey Rublev vs (6) Diego Schwartzman

Date: 1 October 2021

Tournament: San Diego Open 2021

Round: Quarterfinal

Venue: San Diego, United States

Category: ATP 250

Surface: Hardcourt

Prize money: $565,530

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & ESPN | UK - Amazon Prime Video

Andrey Rublev vs Diego Schwartzman preview

Top seed Andrey Rublev and sixth seed Diego Schwartzman will lock horns in an exciting quarterfinal encounter at the 2021 San Diego Open on Friday.

Rublev is playing in his first ATP tournament since the US Open, where he suffered a surprise third-round exit. The top-seeded Russian opened his San Diego campaign with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win against Brandon Nakashima and will look to carry the momentum into the business end of the tournament.

Diego Schwartzman came through a tight three-set encounter in his last match.

Schwartzman, meanwhile, has had to work hard to make it to the last eight. The Argentine defeated Federico Gaio in straight sets in his opener, before battling part the hard-hitting Lloyd Harris in the previous round.

Schwartzman pushed Rublev to a third-set shootout in their meeting at the Laver Cup last week, but lost 9-11. He will now be gunning for revenge.

Andrey Rublev vs Diego Schwartzman head-to-head

Andrey Rublev and Diego Schwartzman have split their previous two meetings, so their current head-to-head stands at a 1-1 deadlock. Their most recent match came at the Laver Cup, with the Russian winning in a match tie-break.

Andrey Rublev vs Diego Schwartzman prediction

Rublev will be eyeing a second hardcourt title this week

This quarterfinal contest will pit Andrey Rublev's power-packed game against Diego Schwartzman's incredible retrieving skills.

The Russian played with a lot of aggression in his opening match against Nakashima. He was especially impressive on return and broke his American opponent on six occasions while winning an incredible 87% of second serve return points.

He is unlikely to alter that gameplan when he faces Schwartzman and the onus will be on the Argentine to find answers to the Russian's offense.

The 29-year-old has troubled Rublev in the past with his wall of defense, but merely sending the ball back into the court will not be enough in the quicker conditions in San Diego.

Schwartman will have to find a way to keep the ball deep and out of Rublev's strike zone or he risks being blown away by the Russian's power.

Prediction: Andrey Rublev to win in three sets