– I’m in shock. It’s a legend, especially on gravel, and being able to do it against him. It is so special, says a coughing Rublev to Eurosport immediately after the match in the dark.
Rublev had to work hard for the win. When Nadal took the second set, among other things after miraculously saving a smash that gave him 4-4, most people probably thought that the Russian was broken and cracked. But not. Rublev bit away. At 2-1 in the third set, the match’s longest duel came with 35 strokes over the net and it was Nadal who had to rest on his knees to recover.
Won the 5-1 game in 70 seconds
A couple of the game took over eleven minutes where the initiative swung back and forth. When Rublev went up to 5-1 in the last set, that game took only 70 seconds and it looked abandoned in Nadal’s box where the entourage had black mouth guards and were wrapped in coveralls in the chilly Monaco evening.
When Nadal then knocked out the match ball, Rublev went down on his knees, thanked a disappointed Nadal quickly in front of the net, and sat for a long time under a towel to let his emotions sink in.
Nadal has eleven titles in Monte Carlo.
Rublev will now face Norwegian Casper Ruud in the semifinals. In the second, the barking Britons Daniel Evans and Stefanos meet Tsitsipas.
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