On Wednesday, Rafael Nadal will face 19-year-old Andrey Rublev for a spot in the US Open semifinals. Our champ has never played world No. 53 Rublev, who has upset Grigor Dimitrov and David Goffin to reach the quarterfinals.
Date: 6 September 2017
Match time: Rafa is second on Ashe. Around 1 PM EDT – New York, Montreal / 6 PM BST – United Kingdom / 7 PM CET – Spain, France, Germany, Italy / Thursday 3 AM AEDT – Melbourne. To convert to your local time, use this website.
Rafa on playing Rublev:
Now I have a tough opponent, Rublev, next round, and I need to continue to play well. Of course he’s young, and when you are young you feel that everything is new. But he already won a lot of matches on the tour. He’s not a kid that he came now in this event. Of course not. He’s on the tour for a while. He’s playing well. He’s a solid player on the tour.
Rublev on facing Rafa:
Rafa is the real champion and I’m just going to try to enjoy it – this is the quarter-final and I have nothing to lose.
Rublev, who idolised our champ when growing up, will be bidding to become the youngest semifinalist since Rafa in 2005 and Lleyton Hewitt in 2000. The Russian teen came into the US Open ranked No. 53, as of now he’ll move up into the 40s.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
Rafa from all the comments above it was a great match by you, but I did not see it here in Sydney.
All the best for the Semi finals.
Love and prayers,
AlaineXXsydneyXXaustraliaXX
I almost felt sorry for Rublev – almost! They hadn’t played a match before, but they had practised against each other. Suspect Rublev was surprised how different Rafa is in match form. Never mind, kid, you’ve got loads of time… Now I want to see Delpo down Federer!
Not really, Sarah.
Rafa has the reputation of playing even more intensely in practice than matches. He definitely hits flatter and plays more aggressive, more freely. The week leading up to the tournament he won all of his practice sets against all high quality opponents (Toni’s revelation) and looked mightily impressive. Surely he impressed the ESPN team, a Fed’s mini fan club. :p
Well done Rafa!
Rublev didn’t play as expected – maybe Rafa didn’t let him!!!
I wonder if a stiffer match might have been a better preparation for the semi finals especially if it’s going to be Roger.
Rafa let ur confidence be high and flying!!! Believe and know that you win!!!
VAMOS! Love you ❤️❤️😘😘
Well done rafa. Now c’mon del Potro!!!
Rafa is semis awesome. It’s 1:36 here. Sleep time bye everyone