Russian World No. 8 Andrey Rublev has grown tremendously in the past six months. Apart from reaching his career-high ranking, he now has eight ATP titles to his name.

However, his next challenge is undeniably one of the impossible tasks to conquer on the men’s tour. At the Monte-Carlo Masters 2021, the 23-year-old will face the king of clay, Rafael Nadal, fighting for a semi-finals spot.

To reach the final eight, the Russian defeated Salvatore Caruso and the ninth seed Roberto Bautista Agut on his way. Now, he is on route to getting his level tested against the 11-time Monte-Carlo Masters winner.

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Andrey Rublev has a hilarious response for his matchup against Rafael Nadal

Undoubtedly, the 33-year-old Roberto Bautista Agut is also one of the unbreakable tennis players on clay. However, Andrey Rublev kept coming back to him on almost every ball, which decided the outcome. The Russian won the hard-fought battle 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-3.

After the match, the interview asked Rublev how excited he is to face his next opponent. In response, the Russian answered what all the male tennis players would have answered. He laughingly said, “Not really.”

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Moreover, this will be the first time Rublev will experience playing against Rafael Nadal on a clay court. Previously, the duo has met twice on hard courts, where the Spaniard has won both times.

Not to mention, Rafa Nadal is a record 11-time winner of the Monte-Carlo Masters title. Considering the Spaniard’s last two matches, there is no question about him still being the best active player on clay.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion defeated Federico Delbonis and Grigor Dimitrov, not losing more than three games in both matches.

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What are Nadal and Rublev’s chances to win the Monte-Carlo 2021?

Nadal has an easier chance to grab the title this year as the top seed recently crashed against Dan Evans. Serbian World No.1 Novak Djokovic called it “one of the worst performances” of his career.

Namely, StefanosTsitsipas, David Goffin, defending champion Fabio Fognini, Dan Evans, Casper Ruud and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina have also reached the quarterfinals.

The winner between Nadal and Rublev will face the victor of Casper Ruud and Fabio Fognini. It would be interesting to see how the Russian performs against the mighty Spaniard.

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