Rublev crowns Sinner: “I didn’t expect him to beat me so easily in Australia”

Both registered in Rotterdam, respectively seeded No. 1 and No. 2 of the tournament, Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev could find themselves in the final on Sunday. During these first days of the tournament, however, there has already been room to return to the past, in particular for the Russian tennis player. After the comeback victory over Auger-Aliassime, Rublev spoke at the press conference where there was also the opportunity to return to the topic of Sinner, his potential opponent in Sunday’s final. The Russian expressed himself thus on Jannik, somehow confirming how Sinner has completely made a leap in size for some time now and how their match in Australia had also been surprising: “I expected him to be able to beat me, his level he’s impressive right now. But maybe I didn’t expect him to be able to beat me so easily, in just three sets. After he beat me in Australia I was scared that Djokovic could beat him in three sets and I said to myself: ‘ok, if Novak beats him in three sets, how much do I have to work after losing to Jannik in three sets? How far am I from their level?’ Then the fact that Sinner also beat Djokovic “calmed me down” and made me understand that I just have to work and keep pushing.”