Federer stunned by Russian
qualifier Rublev in Cincinnati
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[August 16, 2019]
(Reuters) - Fearless Russian
qualifier Andrey Rublev needed just over an hour to beat Roger
Federer 6-3 6-4 in the third round of the Cincinnati Masters on
Thursday, the Swiss 20-time Grand Slam champion suffering his
quickest defeat for 16 years.
The 21-year-old Rublev, who broke the third seed in his first two
service games, shed tears of joy after pulling off the biggest win
of his career in 62 minutes.
"It is such an amazing feeling when you're playing a legend like
Roger and all these people supporting him until the end,” he told
ESPN.
“One day I hope I'm going to feel the same.
“Today I was just trying to do my best and was thinking in my head
that I need to play every point until the end no matter what.”
It was Federer's fastest defeat since losing to Franco Squillari in
54 minutes in Sydney in 2003.
“He was super clean,” Federer, seven-times champion in Cincinnati,
said of Rublev. “Defence, offence, serving well. Didn't give me
anything. He was everywhere. So it was tough for me, but excellent
match by him. I was impressed.”
Rublev’s win sets up an all-Russian quarter-final with ninth seed
Daniil Medvedev, who beat German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-2 6-1.
World number one Novak Djokovic beat Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3
6-4, saving four break points in the second set andearning his own
break in the third game.
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Roger Federer (SUI) reacts against Andrey Rublev (RUS) during the
Western and Southern Open tennis tournament at Lindner Family Tennis
Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
“I'm very pleased with the performance today because I played
against a very great, quality player tonight,” Djokovic said. “It’s
a straight-sets win but probably the score doesn't indicate how
tough it was on the court.”
Next up for Djokovic is Frenchman Lucas Pouille, who beat eighth
seed Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-7(3) 6-4 6-2.
In other matches, Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut took down Miomir
Kecmanovic 6-1 6-2 and will next face France’s Richard Gasquet, who
beat Diego Schwartzman 7-6(6) 6-3. Belgium’s David Goffin and
Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka also advanced to set up a quarter-final
match-up.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; additional reporting by Jahmal Corner;
Editing by editing by Pritha Sarkar/Peter Rutherford)
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