DUBAI, February 28. /TASS/. Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev has advanced to the quarterfinals round of the 2024 ATP (the Association of Tennis Professionals) Dubai Open Tennis tournament after defeating on Wednesday Arthur Cazaux of France.
In a match that lasted for nearly one hour and 20 minutes, Rublev, who is playing as a neutral at the tournament, defeated his French opponent in straight sets 6-4; 6-4.
Speaking after the match about his opponent’s game, Rublev said: "He was serving really well."
"He was making first serves. I was lucky that in the first game of the match he didn’t make first serves and I guessed right and made great returns," the ATP official website quoted Rublev as saying after his match against Cazaux.
"I was able to break straight away and it gave me extra confidence and I was able to play freer and I think that was the key," Rublev added.
The Russian is now set to face off in the quarterfinals of the tournament against the winner of the encounter between Botic van de Zandschulp from the Netherlands and Sebastian Korda of the United States.
Rublev, 26, is ranked 5th in the ATP World Rankings and has won 15 ATP tournament titles. He has also appeared in numerous Grand Slam tournaments, albeit never advancing beyond the quarterfinals. Rublev 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 as part of the Russian national team.
The 2024 Dubai Open Tennis tournament is an ATP 500 competition on the organization’s calendar and takes place at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Dubai between February 26 and March 10.
The tournament is played on outdoor hard courts and offers over $2.9 million in prize money. Medvedev is the reigning champion.
Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments
On February 28, 2022, 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 2022, 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, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.
On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.
However, 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 only under a neutral status.