Andrey Rublev Believes Lack of Variety on Faster Courts Makes Tennis ‘Boring’

Last year's runner's-up Andrey Rublev will meet Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round of the Canadian Open.

Andrey Rublev Believes Lack of Variety on Faster Courts Makes Tennis ‘Boring’

Andrey Rublev (Image via X/The Tennis Channel)

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Andrey Rublev recently expressed his dissatisfaction over the courts in at the ATP Masters 1000 in Toronto being faster than usual. Rublev used the example of his compatriot Daniil Medvedev‘s third-round match against defending champion Alexei Popyrin to elaborate his issues with the surface.

The Australian had knocked out tenth seed Medvedev in three sets to set up a clash with Holger Rune, where he once again triumphed in three sets. Speaking to Tennis Channel, Rublev commented:

I was watching that match, and it was all serves and one shot, many unforced errors, no way to see a baseline rally. Even with Daniil on the court, who is a player who likes baseline rallies, but it’s impossible. On these types of courts, you see much less variety tactically.

Popyrin hit 37 winners and 46 unforced errors compared to Medvedev’s 20 winners and 40 unforced errors. Rublev asserted that he gets bored watching tennis on fast courts due to the lack of extended rallies or tactical variety.

Rublev, who was the runner’s-up in this tournament last year in Montreal, has also previously spoken about his preference of Montreal over Toronto. He believes that the Montreal courts are more playable and allow for a lot of rallies. Several other players like Taylor Fritz have also complained about the fast conditions in Toronto.

Andrey Rublev will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round in Toronto

Sixth seed Andrey Rublev overcame Hugo Gaston and Lorenzo Sonego in his prior rounds at the Canadian Open. He will face twentieth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the next round which marks their seventh meeting on court. Although the Russian leads the head-to-head 5-1, Fokina has been playing some high quality tennis as of late and had won their last encounter at the Barcelona Open this year.

The Spaniard reached his third final of the season last month at the Mubadala Citi DC Open where he lost to Alex de Minaur in a heartbreaking final, conceding three championship points to the Australian. Fokina was also the subject of criticism before his third round match when he complained on X about how he had been given the 11 A.M. slot to play compared to others who had been given the 12:30 P. M. slot.

Alex de Minaur, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Alex de Minaur, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Image via X/We Love Tennis)

British tennis player Dan Evans responded to this tweet brutally on his Instagram story urging Fokina to wake up and play, adding that the world wakes up and works 9-5 even 8-6. Many feel that Evans words worked wonders as Fokina went on to win his third-round match in straight sets against reigning Miami Open champion and twelfth seed Jakub Mensik.

Alexei Popyrin will face top seed Alexander Zverev at the Canadian Open quarterfinal

Alexei Popyrin faces a tough challenge in the path to his Canadian Open title defense with a quarterfinal clash with top seed Alexander Zverev. The German has a 3-0 record over Popyrin having won all those matches in straight sets. Zverev, also comes with the confidence of having trained for a while at the Rafa Nadal Academy before commencing his North American hard court swing.

Alexander Zverev Canadian Open 2025
Alexander Zverev (Image via ATP)

Zverev defeated Adam Walton in his opening round in Toronto. He then went on to claim his career’s 500th match win with a victory over Matteo Arnaldi in the third round. In his fourth-round match, Zverev’s opponent Francisco Cerundolo retired early in the second set due to an abdominal injury. The World No. 3 displayed a touch of class and kindness as took the time to speak warmly with the Argentine, consoling him during his medical timeout.

Also Read: Alexander Zverev Makes ‘Terrible Tennis’ Admission As He Recalls One Big Mistake of This Season