“But I’m not facing Novak,” Andrey Rublev shuts ‘unprepared’ journalist at Dubai Open press

Andrey Rublev continues to battle on for his maiden Tour title of the season. Currently playing at the 2023 Dubai Tennis Championships, he has made his way into the tournament’s semi-finals. The World No. 6 had a convincing victory over Botic van de Zandschulp in the quarter-finals. Rublev won the match 6-4, 7-6(3).

Rublev is into his first semis of the season. Having finished the 2022 season with a semi-final run at the 2022 ATP Finals, Rublev had a couple of disappointing losses earlier this season. He looked good at the 2023 Australian Open but failed to clear the quarter-finals losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in straight-sets.

Following his win over Zandschulp, Rublev will now take on Alexander Zverev for a place in the finals. The German is also into his first semi-final of the season and his first since his freak injury in last year’s French Open. During the press conference, however, Rublev was wrongly informed about taking on Djokovic in the semis to which the Russian politely tackled.

“But I’m not facing Novak. I’m facing Sascha. We’re from different parts. Novak is facing Medvedev. If I’m going to face Novak, first I need to win semifinal. If I will face Novak somewhere later during the season, I hope I’m not going to face him,” said Rublev smilingly choosing not to show any tantrum.

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Andrey Rublev yet to defeat Alexander Zverev on the Tour

While the match against Novak Djokovic is definitely on the cards, for Andrey Rublev the challenge in the semis is a bigger one. World No. 16 Alexander Zverev holds the psychological advantage over the Russian. In all five meetings between the two so far, Rublev is yet to register a single win. Zverev leads 5-0 in the head-to-head.

Not only has Rublev not won a match, but he is also yet to win a single set against the German. But the opportunity in the semi-finals will be a big one for Rublev. With Zverev still not at his usual best, Andrey can capitalize on it and register his maiden win over the former World No. 2. Rublev being the defending champion also has the pressure to win the finals in order to retain his 500 points from last year.

Nevertheless, it promises to be a great match between the two players. Zverev defeated Lorenzo Sonego earlier in the day in a straight-set win reaching the last-four having dropped only one set, a similar track record to Rublev’s this week.

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