On Tuesday, May 12, the Italian tournament in Rome saw the quarterfinal battles conclude. Russian tennis players Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev also competed in their respective matches. Here’s a detailed breakdown.
First up among the Russians was Khachanov, seeded 13th, who began his campaign in the second round due to his high ranking. He faced former Russian Alexander Shevchenko, now representing Kazakhstan. The Olympic silver medalist from 2020 needed 1 hour and 44 minutes to win 6:4, 6:4.
In the third round, Khachanov had a tougher challenge against world No. 54 Botic van de Zandschulp, spending 2.5 hours to secure a comeback win 5:7, 6:4, 6:4. This marked his third consecutive year reaching the fourth round in Rome and his 17th career appearance at this stage in Masters events.
In an exclusive interview, Khachanov explained his recovery: “The most important thing was to stay mentally focused on the match. Despite difficulties at the end of the first set, I had no chance on return because he served extremely well. I lost the first set, but I stayed in the match and continued imposing my game. I even raised my level, which allowed me to seize the momentum. I managed to go ahead in the second set and hold the lead, then did the same in the third. I’m glad I outplayed him mentally, physically, and in terms of play after being down 0-1.”
In the round of 16, Khachanov faced 20-year-old Dino Prizmic, whom he had never met before. The young Croatian, ranked a career-high 79th, had made a splash in Rome by coming through qualifying, then defeating Marton Fucsovics, Novak Djokovic (2:6, 6:2, 6:4), and Ugo Humbert. Khachanov started aggressively, breaking early to win the first set 6:1. The second set saw breaks exchanged before Khachanov dominated the tiebreak 7:2, taking the match 6:1, 7:6 (7:2). Khachanov hit seven aces to Prizmic’s one, with three double faults for the Russian and two for the Croatian.
This victory marked Khachanov’s first career quarterfinal in Rome and his 11th Masters quarterfinal. He will next face Casper Ruud of Norway.
Later, Andrey Rublev faced 34-year-old Nikoloz Basilashvili, who was once ranked 16th but now sits at 117th. The head-to-head favored Rublev 4-3. Rublev struggled early, losing the first set 3:6 after a slow start and a code violation for emotional outburst. However, he regrouped, winning the second set in a tiebreak 7:6 (7:5) and dominating the third 6:1. The Russian hit five aces to Basilashvili’s two, with two double faults each.
This was Rublev’s 16th Masters quarterfinal and his second in Rome, the first since 2021. He will now face world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
