“Brad Pitt is going to be great,” Andrey Rublev picks Roger Federer alongside Bjorn Borg, Marat Safin and John McEnroe for a tennis all-star weekend

The World No. 5 had an interesting take on the celebrities he would like to see for a hypothetical tennis all-star weekend.

“Brad Pitt is going to be great,” Andrey Rublev picks Roger Federer alongside Bjorn Borg, Marat Safin and John McEnroe for a tennis all-star weekend

Brad Pitt, Roger Federer, Bjorn Borg, Andrey Rublev (Images via Open Source)

World No. 5 Andrey Rublev has made one of his best starts to the season. The Russian is 10-2 for the season having already won a Tour title in Hong Kong. He made the quarter-finals at the 2024 Australian Open as well.

But his ill luck in the quarter-finals struck once again as he lost his 10th Grand Slam quarter-final. He went down in straight-sets against eventual winner Jannik Sinner. He took a good break of nearly three weeks before returning to action at the ATP-500 event in Rotterdam.

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He defeated Zizou Bergs and Felix Auger-Aliassime but lost to Alex de Minaur in the quarter-finals. The Australian went on to reach the finals but lost to Sinner. Nevertheless, he rose two places to become the new World No. 9.

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With the NBA All-Star weekend having taken place last week, the fever caught up to the Russian as well. Ahead of his appearance in Doha for the 2024 Qatar Open, the 15-time title winner was asked about his dream line-up if tennis also had an all-star weekend. 

Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Marat Safin, let's put Rogelio (Roger Federer) one more time. Let's put Motley Crew they will make a crazy show. Brad Pitt is going to be great for the atmosphere or any Formula 1 driver like Hamilton or whatever.
Said Rublev.

Andrey Rublev to take on a veteran in his campaign opener in Doha

Rublev is the top-seed at the Qatar Open this week. As a result, he enjoyed the first round bye handed to the top seeds. The ATP-250 event was set to feature Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as well.

Andrey-Rublev
Andrey-Rublev (Image via: Imago)

But Nadal withdrew officially and Nole quashed all rumors about his alleged appearance by skipping all events in February. Following the second day of the tournament, Rublev has now been informed of his opponent in the second round.

He will take on former World No. 7 and French veteran Richard Gasquet. The 37-year-old defeated Andrey Shevchenko in the first round with a convincing 6-4, 6-4 win. He also rolled back the years with his trademark backhand winner that was too good for the youngster to even get his racket on.

This will be the second meeting between Rublev and Gasquet. They were supposed to play in the second round in Doha in 2021 itself but Gasquet handed a walkover before the match. Their only meeting then took place in 2022 in the Open 13 in Marseille.

It was a closely fought match that was won by Rublev who came from a set down to win the match in tiebreaker. The form favors Rublev without a doubt. But Gasquet’s experience could make things interesting if he can take an early lead and frustrate the Russian.

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