Andrey Rublev bested the last Australian standing, Alex de MInaur, to reach the 2024 Australian Open quarterfinal.
The two protagonists of the last fourth-round match played on Sunday are a fascinating matchup on paper because the Australian is the right profile to counter Rublev really well.
He's very quick around the court and never gives up, which can give Rublev issues due to his explosive nature. It did happen quite a few times in this match as De Minaur looked really sharp.
He's been looking really sharp for a while now with some good wins. Still, Rublev landed the first punch taking the opening set 6-4. He was stronger from the baseline which is where most of the battles happened.
The second set was a close battle as they ultimately ended up in a tiebreak, which was a spectacular affair. De Minaur was amazing, creating a few big highlights to ultimately win the second set.
The same thing happened in the third set, though this time around, de Minaur held an earlier break that he lost. Eventually, he still won it in the tiebreak, coming pretty close to a solid upset.
Rublev would counter quickly in the fourth set, taking an early lead and winning it 6-3 to take the match into the decider. It was the shortest set until then as the Russian increased his aggression.
That ultimately won him the match, the recognition to start 'going for it' as de Minaur kept fading away. The Australian never quite found a way to counter Rublev effectively in the final two sets.
The final set demonstrated that very well, as he was quite timid while Rublev kept dialing up the pressure, which ultimately proved key. The final score was 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0 for Rublev.
| Alex de Minaur | Andrey Rublev | |
| 6 | Aces | 6 |
| 6 | Double Faults | 6 |
| 53% | First Serve % | 59% |
| 64% (54/85) | Points Won After First Serve % | 67% (72/107) |
| 50% (38/76) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 55% (40/73) |
| 23% (3/13) | Break Point Conversion | 62% (8/13) |
| 42 | Winners | 39 |
| 50 | Unforced Errors | 64 |
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