Andrey Rublev earned his 50th tour-level win on clay Thursday when he moved past long-time friend Karen Khachanov 7-6(4), 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
The fifth seed adjusted well in the windy conditions in the Principality. He struck the ball cleanly from the baseline, hitting 20 winners and returning with depth to advance after one hour and 30 minutes.
“We know each other too well. The first set was only mental. We didn’t show some tennis skills,” Rublev said. “But it was tough to show skills because the wind was really hard and the court was slippery and it was tough to do something. The first set was super mental. As soon as I was able to win a set, I started to feel more free and I felt Karen felt more down, so that was the difference.”
With his 15th victory of the season, Rublev is into his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final since last May, when he reached the last eight in Madrid.
Rublev and Khachanov were teaming as doubles partners this week. They won their opening match before falling to Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski.
Rublev holds fond memories in Monte-Carlo, having advanced to the championship match in 2021. Chasing his first ATP Masters 1000 title this week, the 25-year-old will next meet Jan-Lennard Struff.
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Earlier, German qualifier Struff upset World No. 4 Casper 6-1, 7-6(8) in one hour and 45 minutes to earn his first Top 10 win since June 2021, when he defeated then-World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in Halle.
The 32-year-old thundered down 37 aces and broke the Norwegian’s serve four times to advance to his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final since Cincinnati in 2020.
Struff is up 36 spots to No. 64 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings following his run in the Principality. He will aim to climb further when he takes on Rublev in the last eight.
Ruud arrived in Monte-Carlo off the back of a confidence-boosting run to the title in Estoril last week. However, he struggled in the windy conditions against Stuff, and he leaves Monte-Carlo with a 10-7 record on the season.