Rain saves Rublev in DC | ATP Tour

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The rain saves Rublev in DC

On the same day, Khachanov was caught

August 01, 2024

Andrey Rublev went to the locker room to escape the rain and the anguish of being 0-1 down in sets. Two and a half hours later, he returned refreshed and convinced that he could turn things around. And that’s what he did: he won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 against Luca Van Assche, a French player from the #NextGenATP, to secure a place in the round of 16 of the Mubadala Citi DC Open.

“I played much better after the rain. Before the rain, I couldn’t hit more than two balls. I was missing everywhere,” Rublev said in his on-court interview. “I was even laughing to myself because it was unreal. I never remember missing so much. I literally couldn’t hit two balls into the court. I was a bit in shock.”

“Somehow, because of this rain break, I was able to calm down, to think a little bit. ‘Okay, let’s try maybe thinking in a different way.’ And in the end, it worked.”

Round of 16 ticket sealed with winner 🔥@AndreyRublev97 He will now face 🇫🇷Rinderknech for a place in the quarterfinals 🔜

📽️: @TennisTV | @mubadalacitidc pic.twitter.com/SdwU9LZwcr

— ATP Tour in Spanish (@ATPTour_ES) August 1, 2024

The No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings committed 18 unforced errors in the opening set and was trailing 4-6, 3-2 when play was halted due to rain. Rublev quickly bounced back after the suspension, breaking Van Assche in his second service game after the resumption and firing four straight aces to send the match into a deciding set that he clinched after rallying from 0/40 down at 4-3.

Rublev will next face Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, seeded No. 16 and against whom he has a 1-0 record.

The top seed who could not turn things around on Wednesday was Karen Khachanov. The third seed was upset by South Korean Seongchan Hong, who won 6-2, 6-4 for his fifth tour-level win. He next faces local Alex Michelsen, who beat Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 7-6(1) on Wednesday.