MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev has reached the semifinals stage of the 2023 Dubai ATP Tennis Tournament after defeating Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands on Thursday.
On his way to the semifinals stage at the 2023 Dubai ATP Tennis Tournament, Rublev, who plays under a neutral status at the tournament in Dubai, ousted Botic van de Zandschulp in the quarterfinals with straight sets win of 6-3; 7-6 (7-3).
"After I won some [recent] matches being a set down and a break down, I was thinking, ‘It’s not over, I need to do one more break’," Rublev was quoted as saying by the official ATP website after his match.
"I had opportunities and I didn’t take them. I started to get stressed, and then the game at 5-4. He played well, I got tight, and he broke me," the Russian tennis star continued. "Then we start all over again, but in the tie-break I could start at the bottom, play even more aggressive and better... From 3/3 I think I played four really good rallies and because of this I was able to win."
Rublev, 25, is currently ranked 6th in the ATP (the Association of Tennis Professionals) Ranking List and he is the winner of 12 ATP tournaments. He has also appeared in numerous Grand Slam tournaments, never going further than the quarterfinals.
While playing for the Russian national team, he took home the gold at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in mixed doubles (with teammate Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova) and also won the 2021 Davis Cup.
Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments
On February 28, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations and also canceled all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in these countries.
On March 14, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but under a neutral status.