Why Andrey Rublev was thrilled that Roger Federer hogged the spotlight in Shanghai

James Richardson 13 Oct 2023 8:03 PM

Andrey Rublev makes a gesture

Andrey Rublev said that having Roger Federer in the crowd for his Shanghai Masters quarter-final against Ugo Humbert eased the pressure on him.

Rublev joked that nobody was actually watching the match because Federer was in the stands.

Feeling that there were no eyes on him, Rublev made quick work of the Frenchman for a 6-2, 6-3 win that saw him book his second Masters semi-final of the season.

Asked if Federer being in the stands was a distraction, Rublev replied: “No, he didn’t distract me at all. But all the people stopped focusing on the match because they were only focusing on Roger. So they weren’t watching any more tennis, they were watching only Roger.”

Rublev had suffered an upset loss to Humbert earlier this month in Beijing’s China Open but said he took lessons from that defeat and applied them to help him overcome his rival and take a 3-2 lead in their career head-to-head.

“The match in Beijing, both of us played great tennis, and I had chances. I was serving for the match. He was playing really well that match, and I tried to analyse what I did wrong that match,” said Rublev, who struck 14 winners on his path to a straight sets win.

“I tried to not make the same mistakes today and I did really well. I am happy to win in straight sets. I played a great match and I am happy to win today.”

Rublev now boasts a 17-6 record at ATP Masters 1000 competitions in 2023, with his Monte Carlo championship run serving as the high point of his campaign so far. The 25-year-old, who is vying for his third championship of the year, will next face Grigor Dimitrov in what will be his sixth semi-final at this level.

“It is going to be a tough match. He is a friend and I like him and he is a really great player. It is really tough to beat him when he is in this form. This week he is playing really well,” Rublev said in anticipation of the meeting with the Bulgarian.

While Rublev cannot clinch a place in the ATP Finals in Turin outright in Shanghai, a title run will be enough to see him ascend to a career-high world No 4 in the ATP Rankings next week and will leave him on the brink of confirming his fourth appearance at the men’s tour’s season finale.

Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner have already punched their tickets to Turin.