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John McEnroe Warns Australian Open Star of ‘Tall Order’ as He Looks to Break Quarterfinal Jinx

Published Jan 21, 2024 | 10:57 PM EST

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via Reuters

Tennis legend John McEnroe dropped an exclusive comment about Russian tennis star, Andrey Rublev. Rublev made an astonishing victory against Alex de Minaur to reach the ongoing Australian Open championship’s quarterfinals. In this stage, Rublev will face off against Italy’s tennis prodigy, Jannik Sinner. In this context, McEnroe dropped his predictions on Rublev’s upcoming match.

McEnroe previously has been vocal about Rublev’s skills. In last season’s Wimbledon, McEnroe surprised the tennis fraternity by dropping exclusive compliments for the Russian tennis star. Now Rublev lost in the quarterfinals of last season’s Wimbledon. After that, his fans think his chances at Grand Slams are always erased after the quarterfinal stage. Now that Rublev is gearing up for another quarterfinal match with Sinner, McEnroe takes another dig at the talented player.

John McEnroe praised Rublev’s with concern – ‘Unfortunately, he’s got to play…’

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After watching Rublev taking over Alex de Minaur, McEnroe seemed pretty confident. He dropped a compliment, which said- “But what an effort, I’ve known him since he was a kid – he’s always brought it, always had a lot of energy, he’s very well liked in the locker room, a lot of respect from the other players.” 

Amid McEnroe’s compliment, he is concerned about Rublev’s ability to stick against last season’s ATP winner Jannik Sinner. He commented-“Unfortunately, he’s got to play one of the hottest guys on the tour right now, so it’s a very tall order right now to ask Rublev to get to his first Slam semi,”

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McEnroe particularly praised Rublev’s skills in the fifth set of his match against Alex de Minaur. McEnroe further added-“That’s one of the greatest fifth sets I’ve ever seen anyone play, much less Andrey Rublev, so maybe he can get over the hump. He’s 0-9 in the quarters [at Grand Slams] so maybe it will be 10th time lucky, he sure as hell deserves it after that performance tonight.”

Read more: Wimbledon Staff Called Out by John McEnroe for ‘Unheard Of’ Action That Threatened to Disturb Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev’s Nail-Biting Quarterfinal Contest

Despite his concerns over the upcoming match, McEnroe didn’t halt in praising Rublev. He concluded by saying-“That was one of the all-time efforts, he dug deeper than I’ve ever seen. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, the fuse is lit and he’s going to go nuts and I can totally relate to that, I know what he’s feeling.”

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Andrey Rublev last year’s Wimbledon performance received a special compliment from legendary John McEnroe

Rublev’s performance at the last Wimbledon received a great compliment from John McEnroe. Not to forget, McEnroe is known for his controversial remarks. However, McEnroe made an exception for the Russian tennis star. Rublev was facing off Alexander Bublik in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

While Bublik tried to win over this Russian tennis star, he managed to stick to his point with an amazing shot. Now this shot mesmerized the American tennis legend and he commented by saying- “That is one of the great shots we’ve seen here in years,”

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John McEnroe’s compliment for Andrey Rublex tells that he is a great tennis star. Following that McEnroe hardly praises athletes, Rublev was surely a lucky one. Now whether he wins against Sinner or loses, these components will always be more than any trophy to him.

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Written by:

Upasana Banerjee

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One take at a time

I began my journey as a tennis writer at EssentiallySports after 6.5 years in content creation, including both sports and non-sports topics, gaining wide-ranging expertise. To date, I have contributed more than 600 articles, in both tennis and esports.
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Edited by:

Ananya Giri