Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to Lead Russian Challenge at Tokyo Olympics 2021

Russia has announced its revised contingent for the Tokyo Olympics and it holds no surprises. As expected, current World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev will lead the challenge in the men’s draw.

On the women’s side, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will lead a squad also comprising Veronika Kudermetova, Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Elena Vesnina.

The men’s team also comprises Aslan Karatsev and Karen Khachanov, both accomplished hard-court players. All the tennis matches in the Tokyo Games would be played on hard courts.

Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev took Russia to its first ATP Cup win

The doubles draw for men will see Medvedev pairing up with Karatsev, while Khachanov will play alongside Rublev. Kudermetova and Vesnina would shoulder their country’s expectations in women’s doubles.

The Russian contingent, especially on the men’s side, is arguably the strongest at the Summer Games and with several top tennis stars missing in action, the country could eye a golden harvest this year.

Russia rode its most accomplished tennis stars — Medvedev and Rublev — to glory at the ATP Cup in Melbourne and there are high hopes on the pair to reap a bountiful harvest in the Summer Games. The World No. 2 proved his hard court credentials by clinching back-to-back Masters 1000 titles at Paris and the London ATP Finals in 2020.

Carrying his unbeaten streak-winning momentum from last year, the Russian reached his maiden Grand Slam final at the Australian Open.

Rublev had a phenomenal 2020 season

While Rublev went down tamely in the championship clash to Novak Djokovic, his surge to the final and brutal takedown of current World No.4 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinal reaffirmed his status as one of the best hard court players going around.

Rublev had a phenomenal 2020 season, winning five Tour titles, the most in the season. Though he hasn’t been able to carry forward his momentum from his breakthrough season, the Russian did lift his fourth straight ATP 500 title at Rotterdam and will fancy gunning for gold in the Japanese capital.

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In what was a remarkable clay-court season, Pavlyuchenkova reached the semifinal of the Madrid and followed it up with her first-ever runner-up finish in a Grand Slam at Roland-Garros.

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All in all, it’s a Russian contingent that promises a fruitful run at sports’ biggest stage.