Rock Solid Rublev Reaches Shanghai QFs

Fifth seed Andrey Rublev produced a clean performance Wednesday to down Tommy Paul 7-5, 7-5 and reach the Rolex Shanghai Masters quarter-finals.

The 25-year-old Rublev struck the ball with weight, crushing 23 winners as he forced the American to play defence throughout the one-hour, 35-minute battle. Rublev earned a pivotal break in the 11th game of the second set before closing the match on his serve. The 14-time tour-level titlist improved to 5-1 in his Lexus ATPHead2Head series with Paul.

“I was able to be a bit more calm, [not] get frustrated, especially when he broke me in the first set,” Rublev said when evaluating what made the difference in the match. “I was playing really well. I was a bit unlucky that I had 15/40 in the beginning and he played two points really good. Then he broke me and I was able to keep the same level. That’s why I was able to break him back and in the end, I was able to be a bit more lucky and play a bit better at the end of both sets.”

Shanghai marks the second time this season that Rublev has reached the last eight at an ATP Masters 1000 event, with the first coming at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, where he claimed his maiden trophy at that level. At World No. 7 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Rublev is the highest-ranked player remaining in China, where he will next meet 32nd seed Ugo Humbert.

“I’m playing really well since the US Open,” Rublev said. “I felt that in practice but it just takes time to transfer to tournaments and to get confidence. But this week I’m feeling really well so we’ll see what happens next.”

Rublev’s deep run in Shanghai also boosts his chances for Nitto ATP Finals qualification for a fourth consecutive year. Having won two titles this season, Rublev is fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.