By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | August 15, 2019
Andrey the giant—killer—has struck again.
21-year-old Andrey Rublev moved past Roger Federer in straight sets on Thursday at Cincinnati, taking just 61 minutes to dispose of a Swiss maestro that was as flat as a can of Dr. Pepper after being left out in the sun for several hours.
Rublev broke Federer in the Swiss’ first two service games and never blinked an eye as he notched his second Top 5 win of the season. The Russian qualifier has now won two straight against the Top 5 after dropping his first six, and he’ll move on to face fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev in the last eight.
Federer, who entered the match with a 39-5 record on the season and a 47-9 record at Cincinnati, was impressed by Rublev’s performance.
“He was super clean,” Federer said. “Defense, offense, 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 won 27 of 33 first-serve points and never hesitated when he had chances to attack with his forehand. He finished with 17 winners against just six unforced, with 11 of those winners coming from the forehand side. And when Federer did have chances to make inroads, he struggled at the net.
Federer won just 7 of 19 net points, and he converted an uncharacteristically low 63 percent of his first-serve points
"I was a little bit lucky, because first games he was not really serving well," Rublev said. "He was most of the time starting with the second serve, and I know it is my chance to just go for it. In the end, yeah, everything was on my side from the beginning, so that's why I broke him."
“Definitely I think I struggled on my serve early on,” Federer added. “Got broken the first service games, and, you know, there you have it. That sort of set the tone for the match maybe a little bit.”